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EXPERTS 
IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


.•&\ 


Copyright,  1919,  by 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


•    I    •« 


c       t»t       c«      ••t*         ctt»«o'c'c' 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


PREFACE 

We  were  crowding  together  faster  than  we  were 
learning  to  live  together.  We  were  urbanizing  faster 
than  we  were  civilizing.  Hence  the  problem  of  the  city, 
and  hence  the  "shame  of  the  cities." 

We  accepted  the  growth  of  the  cities  and  its  strain 
on  a  governmental  machinery  devised  largely  for  rural 
conditions  as  a  matter  of  fate.  It  had  to  be.  We  tried 
to  alleviate  the  conditions  accompanying  this  growth  of 
cities.  We  tried  to  palliate  them.  We  tried  to  prevent 
them  by  stemming  the  tide  city-wards  and  by  a  back-to- 
the-farm  movement.  But  it  proceeded  not  only  with 
unabated,  but  with  increased  momentum.  It  was  irre- 
sistible. It  had  to  be.  We  felt,  too,  that  city  govern- 
ment was  incapable  of  dealing  with  the  problem  growing 
out  of  the  urbanization  of  population  and  that  it  could 
not  be  other  than  incompetent  and  ineffective — ^palliative 
at  best. 

Our  point  of.  view  has  changed.  We  have  outgrown 
our  fatalistic  belief.  Fate  either  as  the  agent  or  the 
explanation  of  the  process  of  city-making  is  rejected. 
The  challenge  of  the  city  is  accepted. 

Society  is  taking  a  constructive  view.  The  city  is  a 
potential  agency  of  public  welfare.  Its  only  excuse  for 
being  is  that  it  is  actually  an  instrumentality  of  public 
welfare  and  efficient  in  carrying  out  the  public  purposes. 

It  was  thought  for  a  while  that  our  social  salvation 
might  be  achieved  through,  improved  social  mechanism. 
This  was  found  helpful,  but  produced  varying  results. 

41G024 


/ 


PREFACE 


It  was  slowly  perceived  that  if  the  city  is  to  accomplish 
its  social  welfare  purposes  and  be  an  efficient  instru- 
\     ment  of  an  alert  twentieth  century  democracy,  its  ad- 
ministration must  be  in  the  hands  of  trained  men. 

This  book  aims  to  give  expression  to  this  active,  posi- 
tive and  constructive  view  of  city-making.  It  discusses 
this  view  from  many  angles.  Though  written  by  many 
hands,  it  has  a  definite  idea  underlying  it  and  a  definite 
plan  to  illustrate  its  potentialities.  For  this  the  editor 
of  the  volume  is  alone  responsible. 

Though  we  are  perceiving  more  and  more  the  need 
of  maintaining  a  balance  between  city  and  country,  the 
city  problem  is  becoming  more  and  more  obtrusive. 
Though,  too,  the  modern  city  is  a  great  achievement 
in  human  association,  it  is  also  a  great  agency  in  the 
manufacture  of  social  derelicts,  social  subnormality, 
social  defectiveness  and  social  crime — and  need  one 
add,  of  individual  dereliction,  subnormality,  defective- 
ness and  crime?  The  strain  which  this  social  waste 
and  these  anti-social  forces  put  upon  municipal  govern- 
ment organization  has  reached  the  breaking  point.  The 
result  is  incompetent  government  or  weak  government. 

Incompetency  in  government  brings  with  it  suffering, 
disease,  crime  and  poverty  and  creates  or  aggravates 
the  very  conditions  which  it  is  organized  to  prevent  or 
improve.  It  is  community  wide  in  its  effect.  It  acts  in 
the  name  of  the  community  and  presumably  with  its 
sanction. 
'  i  A  weak  government  brings  about  the  same  result  no 
/  matter  how  altruistic  its  intentions  may  be.  It  is  in- 
competent government  with  a  "muffler."  Or  perhaps  a 
truer  description  of  so-called  weak  government  has  been 
given  by  Samuel  S..  McClure  in  a  remarkably  keen 
statement:    "I  do  know  that  no  people  have  ever  lived 

vi" ■ 


PREFACE 

UL-this  world  under  a  feeble  government.     That  thing 
hasjiever  been  tried^out.  because  if  the  legal  govern 
ment  organized  by  the  people  is  feeble  then  there  always 
exists  by  its  side  an  expert  illegal  government  that  does    _ 
the  actual  work  of  governing." 

Expert  city  goveFnrfient,  "government  administered  by 
trained  men,  is  the  much  needed  agency  to  transform 
the  city  into  an  active,  positive,  and  constructive  instru- 
ment of  public  welfare.  It  will  do  this  because  it  will 
use  the  best  tool  in  all  the  world  for  its  purpose. 
President  Lowell  has  put  the  case  well:  "Democracy 
more  than  any  other  form  of  government  needs  the 
very  best  instruments  which  can  be  used.  What  should 
we  say  of  our  country  if  it  refused  to  use  for  public 
work  modern  machinery  and  inventions?  Democracy 
needs  the  best  machinery  that  can  be  found,  the  best 
tools  that  can  be  discovered;  and  the  best  tool  that  the 
world  has  ever  yet  produced  is  a  highly  trained  human 
brain." 

Though  this  book  is  tremendously  interested  in  making 
democracy  efficient,  it  is  not  primarily  interested  in  effi- 
ciency. It  is  interested  only  in  seeing  that  the  city  accom- 
plishes the  social  purposes  which  brought  it  into  being 
and  makes  its  continuance  necessary.  This  is  the  end. 
This  is  the  mistress.  Efficiency  is  only  the  handmaiden. 
It  is  this  view  which  explains  the  emphasis  throughout 
the  book  on  the  importance  of  public  opinion  and  on  a 
direct  rather  than  a  vicarious  citizen  interest  in  support 
of  government  and  particularly  of  expert  government. 
Expert  city  government  must  entrench  itself  in  the 
understanding  of  the  citizenship.  It  is  this  view  which 
explains  Mr.  Collier's  paper  on  "Citizen  Interest  in 
Government,  the  Community  Center,"  in  this  book.  It  is 
this  view  which  has  made  the  discussion  of  the  control 

vii 


PREFACE 

of  the  expert  such  an  important  part  of  this  book.  It 
is  this  view  which  practically  all  of  the  contributors 
caught  in  their  emphasizing  purposes  and  subordinating 
machinery.  It  is  this  view  which  a  democracy  that 
would  survive  must  insist  upon. 

The  book  is  the  result  of  the  willing  and  hearty 
cooperation  of  many.  The  editor  of  the  volume  as  one 
of  the  cooperators  has  this  opportunity  to  express  his 
appreciation  of  the  cooperation  of  all. 

Edward  A.  Fitzpatrick 


Vlll 


INTRODUCTION 

The  Great  War  has  brought  home,  as  no  other  event 
in  our  national  history,  the  inadequacy  and  the  ineffi- 
ciency of  our  governmental  machinery,  national,  state 
and  municipal.  It  has  likewise  brought  home  to  us  the  re- 
sulting wastefulness  and  extravagance  and  the  question 
we  must  face  and  settle  is,  "What  are  we  going  to  do  to 
place  our  affairs  upon  a  newer,  more  effective,  more 
democratic  basis?  Can  we  longer  afford  to  leave  the 
administration  of  our  public  affairs  to  the  hit  or  miss, 
happy-go-lucky  methods  that  now  characterize  their  con- 
duct ?"  This  volume  is  one  answer.  It  brings  out  clear- 
ly the  need  for  experts  in  city  government.  It  suggests 
ways  by  which  they  can  be  secured.  It  contains  many 
facts  and  opinions,  but  they  all  converge  towards  the 
same  end.  They  are  really  the  many  facets  of  a  single 
stone. 

This  book  could  not  have  been  written  ten  years  ago. 
There  was  not  sufficient  material,  experience  or  opinion 
to  make  it  possible.  It  may  have  to  be  rewritten  within 
the  next  ten  years,  for  the  movement  of  which  it  is  an 
outgrowth  is  developing.  Municipal  work  has  reached 
a  point  where  capable  administrators  are  needed — nay, 
are  demanded  by  the  situation,  and  every  day  brings  a 
new  demand.  A  few  years  ago  our  cities  were  discuss- 
ing the  municipal  supervision  of  milk,  food  generally,  and 
fuel.  Now  our  cities  are  considering  as  next  steps  the 
municipal  control  of  their  distribution  and  no  one  can  be 
sure  how  soon  this  movement  will  extend  to  other  objects 

ix 


INTRODUCTION 

that  have  become  or  are  becoming  necessities  of  life. 

This  movement,  already  in  full  swing  before  the  war, 
has  been  enormously  accelerated  by  that  event,  and  while 
there  may  be  slight  recessions  from  time  to  time,  it  will 
continue  a  really  uninterrupted  development.  We  must 
recognize  that  we  are  facing  a  municipalized,  a  socialized 
future,  and  we  must  recognize  the  necessity  for  placing 
the  affairs  of  the  city  upon  a  basis  of  expert  administra- 
tion. 

This  volume,  like  all  the  others  in  the  National  Mu- 
nicipal League  Series,  represents  a  growth  and  a  develop- 
ment, and  neither  will  stop  with  its  publication.  Both 
will  be  helped  by  it. 

For  years  the  National  Civil  Service  Reform  League 
has  been  giving  its  attention  to  eliminating  irrelevant 
issues  from  appointments  to  public  office,  and  during  its 
recent  years  to  securing  the  selection  of  fit  men  on  a 
basis  of  ascertained  merit,  and  within  still  more  recent 
years  it  has,  in  conjunction  with  the  National  Municipal 
League,  been  devoting  its  constructive  attention  to  the 
next  step  of  securing  the  selection  and  retention  of  the 
expert  in  public  service.  This  book  approaches  the 
problems  from  a  somewhat  different  viewpoint,  but  the 
end  in  view  is  the  same,  and  appearing  at  a  most 
opportune  time,  it  is  sent  forth  with  the  hope  that  it  will 
be  a  factor  in  establishing  American  municipal  govern- 
ment on  a  firm  basis  of  democratic  and  community  effi- 
ciency. 

CuNTON  Rogers  Woodruff 


CONTRIBUTORS 

EDWARD  A.  ROSS,  Madison,  Wis.,  professor  of 
sociology,  University  of  Wisconsin;  advisory  editor, 
American  Journal  of  Sociology;  author,  "Changing  Amer- 
ica," "The  Old  World  in  the  New." 

CLINTON  ROGERS  WOODRUFF,  secretary  of  the 
National  Municipal  League;  editor.  National  Municipal  Re-: 
view.  National  Municipal  League  Series,  and  "City  Govern- 
ment by  Commission." 

DELOS  F.  WILCOX,  Elmhurst,  New  York;  deputy, 
commissioner  of  water,  gas  and  electricity  under  Mayor 
Mitchel,  author  of  "The  Study  of  City  Government,"  "The 
American  City,"  "The  Government  of  Great  American 
Cities,"  "Municipal  Franchises." 

A.    LAWRENCE    LOWELL,    Cambridge,    Mass.,    pres-    y 
ident  of  Harvard  University;   author   of   "Public   Opinion 
and  Popular   Government;"  a  frequent  contributor  on  the 
subject  of  administration  to  the  National  Municipal  Review 
and  other  periodicals. 

FREDERICK  P.  GRUENBERG,  Director,  Philadelphia 
Bureau  of  Municipal  Research. 

WILLITS  POLLOCK,  Milwaukee,  Wis.,  Secretary,  Mil- 
waukee Council  of  Defense. 

H.  S.  GILBERTSON,  New  York,  formerly  executive 
secretary,  National  Short  Ballot  Organization;  author,  "The 
County ;"  Captain,  U.  S.  A. 

EDWARD  A.  FITZPATRICK,  Madison,  Wis.,  director 
of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Training  for  Public 
Service;  editor.  The  Public  Servant;  Major,  U.  S.  A. 

JOHN  COLLIER,  New  York,  director  New  York 
Training  School  for  Community  Center  Workers;  president. 
National  Community  Center  Association. 


CONTRIBUTORS 

WILLIAM  H.  ALLEN,  New  York,  director.  Institute 
for  Public  Service;  author,  ''Next  Steps  in  Higher  Edu- 
cation," "College  Surveys  Handbook,"  "Civics  and  Health," 
"Universal  Training   for   Citizenship  and  Public   Service." 

CLYDE  L.  KING,  Philadelphia,  assistant  professor, 
University  of  Pennsylvania;  editor,  Annals  of  the  Ameri- 
can Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science;  author,  "The 
Regulation  of  Municipal  Utilities;"  "Lower  Living  Costs  in 
Cities." 

WILLIAM  C.  BEYER,  Philadelphia,  Accountant,  Phila- 
delphia Bureau  of  Municipal  Research. 

CHARLES  M.  FASSETT,  Spokane,  Wash.,  commis- 
sioner of  public  utilities,  Spokane. 

ALLEN  M.  RUGGLES,  Wisconsin  State  Civil  Service 
Commission. 

PARKE  R.  KOLBE,  Akron,  Ohio,  president,  Municipal 
University  of  Akron. 

HERMAN  G.  JAMES,  Austin,  Texas;  associate  pro- 
fessor in  the  school  of  government,  University  of  Texas; 
author,  "The  Introductory  Articles  of  the  Illinois  Consti- 
tution," "Applied  City  Government,"  "Handbook  of  Civic 
Improvement,"  "Municipal  Functions;"  secretary.  League  of 
Texas  Municipalities;  associate  editor,  National  Municipal 
Review. 

•v/ 
CHARLES  A.  BEARD,  New  York,  director,  New  York 

Training   School    for    Public    Service;    author,    "Digest   of 

Short    Ballot    Charters,"     "American     City    Government," 

"American  Government  and  Politics,"  "Economic  Origins  of 

Jeffersonian  Democracy." 

MORRIS  LLEWELLYN  COOKE,  Philadelphia;  for- 
merly director.  Department  of  Public  Works;  director, 
Utilities  Bureau;  author,  "Academic  Industrial  Efficiency," 
"Snapping  Cords." 

HAROLD  S.  BUTTENHEIM,  New  York;  editor.  The 
American  City. 

xii 


CONTENTS 

HAPTER  PAGE 

.    I.    Urbanization  and  its  Attendant  Problems. 

By   Edward  Alsworthy  Ross  ...        I 

II.  The  Wide  Scope  of  Municipal  Improve- 
ment.    By  Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff      .        7 

III.  The  Inadequacy  of  Present  City  Gov- 
ernment.    By  Delos  F.  Wilcox     .        .      23 

IV.  The  Need  for  Experts  in  City  Govern- 
ment.    By  A.  Lawrence  Lowell     .        •      37    V^ 

V.     Why  Do  Men  Leave  the  Public  Service? 

By  Frederick  P.   Gruenberg     ...       48 

VI.  The  New  View  of  Municipal  Govern- 
ment.    By  Clinton  Rogers  Woodruff      .      57 

VII.     Present    Use    of    Experts    in    Municipal 

Administration.     By  Willits  Pollock     .      71    , 

VIII.     Existing   Agencies   of   Municipal    Service 

Training.     By  Edward  A.  Fitzpatrick    .     105 

IX.  Citizen  Cooperation  with  Government 
Through  the  Community  Center.  By 
John    Collier 151 

X.     Interpreting   Expert   Government  to  the 

Citizenship.     By  William   H.   Allen     .     168 

5^1.     The    Local    Residence    Requirement   for 

Public  Office.     By  Clyde  Lyndon  King     183 

XII.  Recent  Improvements  in  Methods  of  Re- 
cruiting the  Public  Service.  By  Wil- 
liam  C.    Beyer 191 

XIII.  Making   the    Public    Service   Attractive. 

By  William   C.    Beyer       ....     203 

XIV.  Utility  Problems   and  EIxpert  City  Gov- 

ernment.   By  Charles  M.  Fassett   .        .    221 
xiii 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XV.  Training  Teachers:  Its  Lessons  for 
Training  for  Public  Service.  By  Allen 
M.    Ruggles 235 

XVI.     Training  for  the  Military   Service.     By 

Edward  A.  Fitzpatrick     ....    247 

XVII.     The    Method    of    Training — Cooperative 

Part-Time.     By  Parke  R.  Kolbe    .        .    257 

XVIII.  The  City  Office  as  a  Training  Center 
for  Public  Employment.  By  Clyde  L. 
King 267 

f  XIX.  Building  on  to  Professional  Education 
— What  Training  is  Needed  for  the 
Municipal  Service.  By  Herman  G. 
James 281 

,.  XX.  How  Shall  a  Training  School  for  Mu- 
nicipal Service  be  Organized.?  By 
Charles  A.   Beard 297 

XXI.    Training  in  the  Municipal  Service.     By 

Morris  Llewellyn  Cooke   ....    302 

XXII.     Professional   Organizations  of   City  Of- 
ficials.    By   Harold   S.    Buttenheim       .     323 

XXIII.    The  Control  of  the  Expert.     By  Charles 

A.    Beard 334 


Appendix 


345 


XIV 


EXPERTS 
IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


EXPERTS 
IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

CHAPTER  I 
URBANIZATION  AND  ITS  ATTENDANT  PROBLEMS 

DURING  the  past  century  it  has  become  evident  to 
all  thoughtful  men  that  for  some  time  it  is  to  be 
the  lot  of  an  increasing  part  of  the  higher  races  to 
live  in  cities.  The  denunciations  of  cities  by  philosophers 
and  the  idealizations  of  the  country  by  poets  do  not  ap- 
pear •  to  have  had  the  slightest  effect  in  lessening  the 
cityward  tide  of  migration.  The  back-to-the-land  agita- 
tion has  produced  no  out  current  from  the  cities  that 
can  at  all  balance  the  in  current  from  the  farms.  Rural 
youths  are  quick  to  perceive  that  those  who  so  eloquently 
urge  them  to  stay  on  the  farm  gained  their  high  place 
in  the  world  only  by  seizing  city  opportunities  and  show 
not  the  slightest  willingness  to  give  up  lecturing  and 
writing  in  order  to  engage  in  agriculture.  The  net  effect 
of  the  country-life  movement  is  not  that  more  boys  and 
girls  stay  on  the  farms,  but  that  enough  of  the  brighter 
boys  and  girls  remain  there  to  grow  up  and  later  pro- 
vide the  rural  community  with  the  inspiring  leadership 
it  so  sorely  needs. 


^5^c Experts  i  IN  city  government 

The  fekpid  Urbanisation  in  the  United  States. — At 

the  taking  of  the  first  census  in  the  United  States  there 
were  in  the  entire  country  only  five  cities  with  more  than 
ten  thousand  inhabitants  each  and  they  contained  alto- 
gether a  little  over  4  percent  of  the  population.  Now 
there  cannot  be  fewer  than  seven  hundred  such  cities, 
and  they  contain  at  least  40  percent  of  our  population. 
During  the  last  three  census  decades  the  proportion  of 
the  American  people  living  in  the  country  and  in  towns  of 
less  than  2,500  inhabitants  shrank  from  70  percent  to  53 
percent.  In  the  meantime,  what  may  be  termed  the 
*'city"  element,  i.e.,  those  in  cities  from  25,000  to  500,000 
inhabitants,  from  being  only  11  percent  of  us  became 
18.5  percent,  while  those  in  "great"  cities,  i.e.,  cities  of 
over  half  a  million  inhabitants,  from  being  one-sixteenth 
part  of  us  came  to  be  one-eighth  of  us. 

Up  to  about  twenty  years  ago  we  had  always  had  an 
agricultural  frontier  which  offered  a  certain  check  to  the 
process  of  urbanization.  The  overflow  of  people  from 
the  long-settled  regions  split  into  two  streams — one  flow- 
ing to  the  rising  cities,  while  the  other  spread  into  the 
western  wilderness.  The  springing  up  every  decade  of 
some  tens  of  thousands  of  new  farm  homes  in  the  public 
domain  constituted  a  certain  counterpoise  to  the  reach- 
ing tentacles  of  our  great  cities.  But  about  the  middle 
of  the  nineties,  the  frontier  as  a  big  determinant  of  our 
social  development  ceased  to  exist.  The  change  is  regis- 
tered in  the  slower  westward  movement  of  the  center  of 
population;  in  a  total  farm-land  value  three  times  what 
it  was  twenty  years  ago ;  in  the  fact  that  during  the  last 
census  decade  half  a  million  Americans  bade  good-by 
forever  to  the  stars  and  stripes  and  settled  in  Canada 
where  the  union  jack  still  floats  over  cheap  public  land. 
There  is,  furthermore,  the  striking  fact  that  the  immi- 


URBANIZATION  AND  ITS  PROBLEMS        3 

grants  of  the  last  twenty  years  are  not  getting  their  feet 
upon  the  soil  as  did  the  earHer  immigrants.  Thus,  ac- 
cording to  the  last  census,  there  is  among  us  one  Ameri- 
can white  farmer  for  fourteen  American  whites,  one 
Scandinavian  farmer  for  eight  Scandinavians  here,  one 
German  farmer  for  eleven  Germans,  one  Irish  farmer 
for  forty  Irish;  but  it  takes  130  Poles,  Hungarians  or 
Italians — the  chief  nationalities  in  the  recent  immigra- 
tion— to  furnish  one  farmer. 

Immigration  and  Urbanization. — Since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  century  not  less  than  ten  millions  of  im- 
migrants have  settled  permanently  among  us  and  of 
these  the  bulk  have  gone  to  swell  the  population  of  our 
cities.  Indeed,  as  one  traverses  the  gamut  that  leads 
from  farms  to  towns,  from  towns  to  little  cities,  and 
from  little  cities  to  big  cities,  the  proportion  of  American 
stock  steadily  diminishes,  while  the  proportion  of  for- 
eign stock  increases  until  in  the  great  cities  it  constitutes 
nearly  three- fourths.  Thus  in  1910,  of  the  white  people 
in  the  rural  districts  nearly  two-thirds  were  of  native 
stock,  whereas  in  the  cities  of  over  half  a  million  in- 
habitants, this  stock  constituted  but  a  fourth.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  foreign  born  are  but  7.5  percent  of  the 
whites  in  the  rural  parts,  while  in  the  great  cities  this 
element  rises  to  one-third.  The  alien  influx,  therefore, 
has  precipitated  us  into  the  thick  of  urban  problems 
which  otherwise  would  hardly  have  troubled  us  before 
the  third  quarter  of  the  twentieth  century. 

Transportation  and  Urbanization. — Another  cause 
of  urbanization  is  the  stupendous  growth  of  commerce 
in  consequence  of  the  cheapening  of  transportation.  It 
is  a  matter  of  demonstration  that  the  average  haul  of  a 


4  EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

shipment  in  our  railways  is  every  year  greater.  The  pro- 
portion of  a  man's  consumables  which  are  brought  to 
him  from  outside  the  hundred-mile  zone,  from  outside 
the  thousand-mile  zone,  from  over-sea,  and  from  the  ends 
of  the  earth  continually  grows.  This  freer  resort  to 
long-distance  exchange  swells  the  streams  of  commerce 
and  permits  an  ever  larger  number  of  us  to  dwell  in 
commercial  cities  and  make  a  living  from  handling,  stor- 
ing, exchanging  and  forwarding  a  volume  of  goods 
which  grows  faster  than  the  population,  faster  than  the 
total  social  product,  faster  even  than  the  volume  of  goods 
which  must  make  a  journey  in  order  to  reach  their  con- 
sumer. 

Industry  and  Urbanization. — A  couple  of  genera- 
tions ago,  the  typical  farm  family  produced  for  itself  a 
large  part  of  the  manufactured  goods  it  consumed.  The 
women  of  the  house,  busy  with  hand  card,  spinning  wheel 
and  loom,  worked  up  into  clothing  the  fleeces  of  the  farm 
flock  of  sheep.  Rag  carpets  covered  the  floor  and  home 
made  quilts  and  comforters  the  beds.  The  hide  of  the 
beef  killed  for  family  consumption,  as  well  as  those  of 
a  calf  or  two,  were  taken  to  the  tannery  and  after  six 
months  brought  home  and  worked  up  into  foot  gear, 
sometimes  by  the  men  of  the  family,  but  more  often  by 
a  traveling  shoemaker.  In  the  smoke-house  were  curing 
hams  and  bacon,  while  from  the  ashes  in  the  leech  was 
drained  the  lye  which,  when  boiled  with  refuse  fat,  fur- 
nished "soft  soap"  for  the  family.  Candles  were 
molded  from  the  tallow  of  the  slaughtered  beef.  The 
orchard  supplied  fruit,  cider  and  vinegar.  "Sweetening" 
came  from  the  "sugar  bush"  or  the  patch  of  sorghum 
cane.  Farm  machinery  did  not  exist  and  the  wooden 
parts  of  the  farm  implements  were  made  on  the  place. 


URBANIZATION  AND  ITS  PROBLEMS       5 

the  iron  parts  being  furnished  by  a  cross-roads  black- 
smith. 

Since  this  period  we  have  seen  a  development  of 
machine  industry  which  has  concentrated  in  towns  at 
least  four-fifths  of  the  making  industries  which  formerly 
supplied  the  wants  of  the  farm  family.  Nor  can  we 
foresee  that  any  rural  handiwork  is  likely  to  escape  the 
reach  of  the  power-driven  machine.  The  process  bids 
fair  to  continue  until  every  scrap  of  manufacturing  will 
go  into  a  factory  in  some  town,  and  there  will  be  left 
outside  the  towns  only  those  who  give  their  entire  effort 
and  attention  to  some  purely  extractive  industry  like 
agriculture,  mining  or  lumbering. 

Urban  Welfare,  a  Problem  of  Administration. — 
Since,  then,  it  is  the  destiny  of  the  greater  part  of 
us  to  live  in  some  town  or  city,  it  behooves  us  to  recog- 
nize betimes  how  broad  is  the  contrast  between  the  means 
of  attaining  rural  well-being  and  the  means  of  attaining 
urban  well-being.  The  country  is  the  home  of  individ- 
ualism and  self-help.  The  farm  family  suits  itself  as 
to  domicile,  raises  most  of  its  food,  controls  its  supply 
of  milk  and  water,  realizes  its  own  ideas  of  cleanliness, 
disposes  of  its  refuse  as  it  pleases,  chooses  the  moral 
influence  that  shall  surround  its  young,  and,  in  a  word, 
determines  what  degree  of  risk  it  shall  incur  from  fire, 
accident,  disease  and  immorality.  The  promotion  of 
rural  welfare  is,  therefore,  chiefly  a  matter  of  education. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  city  diseases  tend  to  be  ex- 
changed. One  man's  carelessness  or  filthiness  endangers 
other  people's  health.  There  are  many  essential  condi- 
tions of  health  and  safety  over  which  the  careful 
householder  has  little  or  no  control.  Such  are  the 
height  of  buildings,  the  cleanliness  of  streets,  the  removal 


6  EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

of  garbage,  the  disposal  of  sewage,  the  quality  of  the 
water,  food  and  milk,  protection  against  fire,  the  fitness 
of  the  domicile  for  residence,  access  to  nature,  the  oppor- 
tunity for  out-door  recreation,  the  moral  tone  of  public 
amusements.  Many  of  the  basic  conditions  of  industrial 
or  family  life  are  simply  not  to  be  had  by  any  single- 
handed  effort.  The  citizens  must  conquer  their  diffi- 
culties chiefly  through  the  intelligent  activities  of  the 
municipalities  they  create,  so  that  the  problem  of  urban 
welfare  is  essentially  a  matter  of  administration. 

The  betterment  of  municipal  administration  is  there- 
fore a  matter  of  prime  concern  to  a  growing  proportion 
of  our  people  and  holds  an  ever-greater  promise  of  benefit 
to  the  nation  and  to  the  race. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  WIDE  SCOPE  OF  MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENT 

DEMOCRACY  demands  publicity ;  and  he  who  solves> 
the  problem  of  making  plain  the  difficulties  of 
municipal  administration  and  making  clear  the  transac- 
tions of  the  ordinary  daily  work  of  great  city  depart- 
ments will  have  made  a  contribution  of  great  value.  It 
is  a  big  task,  but  our  municipal  officials  in  increasing 
numbers  are  devoting  themselves  to  the  problem  of  intel- 
ligent exploitation  of  th^  city's  activities.  In  passing,  it 
may  be  noted  that  the  National  Municipal  League  has 
a  committee  at  work,  under  the  chairmanship  of 
J.  Horace  McFarland  of  Harrisburg,  oii^  Constructive 
Municipal  Publicity.  Its  object  is  not  only  to  increase 
the  desire  and  demand  for  adequate  publicity,  but  to 
discover  the  principles  and  methods  which  must  be  fol- 
lowed. 

Constructive  Municipal  Publicity. — One  of  the  most 
significant  developments  of  the  Blankenburg  administra- 
tion in  Philadelphia  was  the  effectiveness  with  which  the 
department  of  public  works  made  known  its  activities 
and  achievements.  The  last  report  of  its  director, 
Morris  L.  Cooke,  was  introduced  by  a  pregnant  para-- 
graph  which  has  been  used  elsewhere.^ 

^  See  Chapter  X. 


8  EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

In  his  letter  transmitting  this  report  the  director  said : 

With  the  increasing  size  of  our  undertakings  and  their 
growing  complexity,  the  difficulty  of  visualizing  the  pur- 
poses and  processes  of  government,  federal,  state  and  mu- 
nicipal, is  greatly  increasing.  I  feel  very  strongly  that  un- 
less you  can  make  people  understand  what  you  are  doing, 
the  waste  is  prohibitive;  and,  on  the  contrary,  that  if  the 
people  can  be  made  to  understand  your  plans  and  the  method 
by  which  you  hope  to  accomplish  them,  and  these  plans 
are  right,  the  means  will  be  forthcoming. 

The  last  three  or  four  years  the  engineers  connected  with 
this  department  have  become  a  unit  in  their  attitude  towards 
this  question.  We  all  started  in  with  the  disposition  to 
feel  that  advertising  as  such  was  almost  unprofessional. 
We  have  now  come  around  to  the  point  where  we  are 
struggling  to  devise  new  and  more  comprehensive  methods 
by  which  we  might  expose  the  operations  of  this  department 
to  the  public  view  as  completely  as  possible.  Because  only 
in  this  way  do  we  feel  that  the  great  ends  of  municipal  ad- 
ministration, with  more  particular  reference  to  the  engi- 
neering, can  be  accomplished. 

Another  illustration  of  the  same  sort  of  eflFective  pub- 
licity is  the  work  of  the  Dayton  Bureau  of  Municipal 
Research  which  is  seeking  to  translate  the  activities  of 
the  government  of  that  city  into  terms  and  figures  which 
may  be  read  and  understood  by  h-e  who  runs.  In  the 
Dayton  papers  there  have  been  published  a  series  of 
advertisements  setting  forth  the  accomplishments  of  the 
several  departments.  Here  is  one  (omitting  the  illustra- 
tions) from  the  issue  of  October  7,  1916: 

Public  Welfare  Means   Community  Betterment. — 

Tremendous  results  have  been  achieved  by  the  Department 
of  Public  Welfare,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  D.  F.  Garland. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENT  9 

Despite  the  small  recreation  area  and  limited  funds,  the 
people  of  Dayton  have  been  afforded  much  diversion. 

Recreation  is  a  valuable  social  service  which  leads  di- 
rectly to  the  general  development  of  youth  and  the  common 
good  of  all. 

Health  and  happiness  are  the  aims  and  the  outcome  of 
this  earnest  and  efficient  community  activity. 

Parks  and  playgrounds  are  yearly  growing  more  desir- 
able and  popular. 

Read  the  record  and  decide  for  yourself. 

Playgrounds.. — During  the  past  summer  the  city  main- 
tained seven  playgrounds  and,  coordinating  with  the  Play- 
ground and  Gardens  Association,  supervised  eleven  others. 

Total  attendance  for  the  season — ten  weeks — was  191,997, 
an  approximate  average  of  170  per  each  week  day  on  each 
playground.  Analysis  of  cost  shows  that  tax-payers  paid 
less  than  2  cents  per  child  for  each  day  of  attendance.  The 
total  outlay  for  the  Division  of  Recreation  for  the  year 
1916  will  be  $14,000. 

School  enumeration  and  Division  of  Health  figures  show 
that  there  are  in  the  city  35,000  persons  under  21  years  of 
age.  The  cost,  therefore,  of  maintaining  playgrounds  is 
only  40  cents  per  minor  for  the  entire  year. 

During  the  season  a  14  team  indoor  baseball  league,  a  10 
team  outdoor  baseball  league  and  an  8  team  volley  ball 
league  were  maintained  and  played  scheduled  games. 

Fourteen  field  events  were  held.  These  included  whole- 
some competitions  of  all  kinds  for  boys  and  girls. 

A  magnificent  play  festival  at  Island  Park  closed  the  sea- 
son. In  this  there  were  1,000  participants  and  folk  games, 
folk  dancing  and  drills  in  costume  were  featured. 

The  boys  and  girls  were  taught  wholesome  play  and  clean 
sports  by  the  Supervisor  of  Recreation,  Harvey  Sollenber- 
ger,  and  his  22  assistants.  This  recreation  has  meant  in- 
vigorated bodies  and  education. 

Greater  results  were  obtained  during  the  past  year  than 
in  1915.     Cost  of  playgrounds  in  1914  was  $10,275,  in  1915 


10         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

was  $15,820  and  in  1916  will  aggregate  $14,000.  Attendance 
during  the  season  of  1914  was  139,000,  in  1915  was  150,000 
and  in  1916  reached  191,997. 

ATTENDANCE  AT  CITY-SUPERVISED  PLAYGROUNDS  DURING 
SEASONS    OF    191 5    AND    I916 

Children  Adults 

1915  1916  1915  1916 

South  Edgemont   4,001  3,874  400  450 

Kirkham  and  Fluhart   .  4,101  4,819  410  16 

First  and  Orchard   4,311  3,827  431  91 

Benn   Street    3,895  2,864  3^9  253 

Monument  Avenue   4,524        5,190  452  265 

Bayard    Street    3,906  4,635  391  475 

St.    Nicholas    2,796  3,470  280  66 

Burkhardt    4,605        5,242  461  1,102 

Brownell    3,235  3,255  324  50 

Walters'   Grove   5,350        5,189  535  118 

Earl  and  Webster    5,94i        6,310  594  172 

Island   Park    6,169        8,514  617  856 

McKinley    Park    16,171  18,845  I>6i7  3,406 

Pease    Street    9,908        7,473  991  1,040 

College   Street    2,413  4,230  241  181 

McCabe's   Park    12,335  14,226  1,236  3,378 

N.  C.  R 4,963  14,728  496  1,325 

Bomberger     52,000  75,252  5,200  10,400 

Total    150,624     191,943        15*065    23,644 

WIDER   RESULTS   AT  DECREASED   COST 

1915     Child  Attendance  150,624 

1915     Adult  Attendance  15,065 

1915    Total  Attendance   165,689 

1915     Total  Cost   $15,820 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENT  ii 

1916  Child  Attendance  ^9^,997  Inc 27.5% 

1 916  Adult  Attendance 26,702  "       77.3^<' 

1916  Total  Attendance   218,699  "      31.9% 

1916  Total  Cost   $14,000  "      1.2% 


Parks 

Five  years  ago  Dayton's  park  area  was  less  than  20  acres. 
To-day  it  is  approximately  175  acres,  or  more  than  eight 
times  that  available  in  191 1.  This  great  increase  has  been 
effected  largely  during  the  past  three  years. 

Five  years  ago  there  was  one  acre  of  park  available  for 
each  5,948  residents  of  the  city.  To-day  there  is  one  acre 
of  park  ground  for  each  875  people.  Five  years  ago  as  to- 
day the  park  space  included  small  recreational  centers,  beau- 
tified boulevards,  levees  and  areas  about  public  buildings. 

The  cost  of  the  Division  of  Parks  in  1914  was  $16,445,  i" 
1915  was  $16,770  and  in  1916  will  total  $16,000.  Prior  to 
1914  approximately  as  much  money  was  spent  by  the  park 
department,  but  with  no  fixed  plans  for  making  its  open 
spaces  recreation  centers. 

The  physical  value  of  Dayton's  park  lands  and  buildings 
to-day  is  $603,000,  which  includes  necessary  equipment  and 
playground  apparatus.  Five  years  ago  no  valuation  records 
were  kept. 

At  no  additional  cost  of  operation  during  the  past  five 
years  there  has  been  at  least  90  percent  advance  in  recrea- 
tional activities.  Under  direction  of  Park  Superintendent 
William  Madden  citizens  have  enjoyed  picnics,  boating,  bath- 
ing, dancing,  camping,  baseball,  tennis,  moving  pictures, 
band  concerts  and  other  wholesome  amusement  and  enter- 
tainment. 

But  all  this  is  not  enough.  Dayton  needs  more  parks, 
more  recreation  centers  and  more  open  spaces.  They  are 
the  "safety  zones"  of  city  life.  Do  they  pay?  Results  can- 
not be  measured  in  dollars  and  cents.  They  show  only  in 
healthier  bodies  and  happier  minds. 


12  EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Dayton  maintains  a  large  fire  department  to  prevent  loss 
of  property  through  conflagration. 

Its  parks  and  playgrounds  are  maintained  to  promote  the 
health  and  happiness  of  the  people. 

Provision  for  recreation  is  just  as  necessary  a  public  duty 
as  prevention  of  fire. 

Yet  Dayton  spends  on  parks  and  playgrounds  only  a  frac- 
tion of  the  amount  laid  out  to  safeguard  property. 

Are  not  the  results  of  recreation  work  worth  consider- 
ably more  than  they  cost? 

What  Taxes  Equals  in  Service ;  The  Scope  of  Muni- 
cipal Service. — Still  another  illustration  of  suggestive 
publicity  is  to  be  found  in  the  "Thanksgiving  Number" 
of  Citizens'  Business,  a  weekly  leaflet  issued  by  the 
Philadelphia  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  *'to  promote 
efficient  and  scientific  management  of  municipal  busi- 
ness."    Here  it  is : 

A  certain  family  had,  among  others,  the  following  yearly 
expenses : 

Telephone  $48.00 

Gas  for  cooking  and  laundry   50.00 

Electricity  for  lighting  and  laundry 50.00 

Daily  street  car  fare,  two  members  of  the  family  . .  60.00 
Taxes,  exclusive  of  schools   50.00 

All  but  the  last  were  for  obvious  services,  but  what  of 
taxes?  What  did  this  family  get  for  the  $50  it  paid  to  the 
city?  In  thinking  it  over  the  father  discovered  that  during 
the  year  he  and  his  family  had  received  the  following  munic- 
ipal services: 

1.  They  had  had  the  use  of  the  streets  and  bridges — 
more  important  utilities  than  telephone,  gas  or  electricity. 

2.  They  had  had  the  use  of  the  parks  and  playgrounds 
where  the  children  had  been  taught  to  swim. 


'     MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENT  13 

3.  The  children  were  protected  from  danger  at  street 
crossings  and  in  the  parks. 

4.  In  a  neighbor's  house  a  small  fire  was  extinguished, 
which,  had  it  been  allowed  to  grow  unchecked,  would  have 
destroyed  theirs  and  other  homes. 

5.  The  thief  who  had  stolen  some  jewelry  was  appre- 
hended by  the  Detective  Bureau  and  the  jewelry  returned. 

6.  A  child  stricken  with  diphtheria  across  the  street  was 
quarantined  and  the  children  of  this  family  protected  from 
contagion. 

7.  Ashes,  garbage  and  sewage  were  all  removed  from 
the  house. 

8.  The  family  did  not  have  to  purchase  standard  scales 
because  they  could  be  sure  that  the  grocer's  scales  were  hon- 
est because  of  city  supervision.  The  full  weight  of  coal 
delivered  to  them  made  a  bigger  pile  than  used  to  show  in 
the  coal  bin. 

9.  Their  food  was  cheaper  than  it  would  have  been  be- 
cause the  city  had  planned  and  developed  wharves  and  docks 
and  other  facilities  for  transportation  of  commodities. 

10.  The  city  pumped  pure  water  into  the  home  for  con- 
siderably less  than  the  privately  owned  water  company  was 
delivering  water  to  their  neighbors  across  the  city  line 

11.  The  inspection  of  elevators,  boilers  and  buildings  all 
contributed  to  the  safety  and  freedom  from  fear  which  the 
family  enjoyed. 

12.  The  wife  had  felt  free  to  leave  the  house  alone  after 
dark,  for  the  city  kept  the  streets  well  lighted. 

13.  Several  times  during  the  year  the  policeman  on  the 
beat  had  closed  up  the  back  door  and  the  downstairs  win- 
dows that  had  been  left  open. 

14.  The  family's  milk  and  meat  supply  were  kept  free 
of  disease  because  the  city  was  on  guard. 

15.  The  family  physician  used  the  city  laboratories  for 
sputum  tests  for  tuberculosis,  blood  tests  for  typhoid,  and 
throat  cultures  for  diphtheria,  as  the  various  members  of 
the  family  seemed  to  be  threatened  with  these  diseases. 


14         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

1 6.  When  the  new  bathroom  was  installed,  the  city  saw 
to  it  that  the  plumber  did  the  right  kind  of  job. 

17.  The  head  of  a  family  got  a  judgment  from  a  debtor 
who  showed  an  indifference  to  his  obligation. 

18.  A  projected  city-owned  transit  line  had  already  in- 
creased the  value  of  his  home  as  real  estate.  When  it  is 
finished  the  head  of  the  family  will  have  an  extra  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour  with  his  family  each  day. 

19.  The  family  maid,  ordinarily  quite  competent,  became 
so  worried  that  her  services  began  to  deteriorate.  After 
her  old  mother,  now  grown  helpless,  had  been  comfortably 
settled  at  Brown  Farm  and  her  little  girl  had  her  eyes  ex- 
amined and  fitted  with  glasses  and  her  teeth  repaired,  all  at 
the  city's  expense,  the  maid  could  give  a  less  distracted  at- 
tention to  her  employer's  interests.  The  maid's  landlord 
was  forced  to  improve  the  little  house  in  which  she  lived, 
and  she  no  longer  brought  "colds"  into  this  home. 

20.  The  children  got  tickets  to  visit  the  Zoo;  the  whole 
family  spent  an  afternoon  at  the  Philadelphia  Museum  and 
another  at  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts;  they  visited  the  City 
Hall  tower,  and  Independence  Hall  and  there  were  always 
books  in  the  house  from  the  Free  Library;  they  enjoyed  the 
municipal  band  concerts  which  were  held  in  their  square. 

When  this  father,  who  had  never  paid  his  taxes  very 
cheerfully,  so  the  leaflet  declared,  thought  over  these  mat- 
ters, he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  and  his  household 
were  getting  a  larger  return  in  things  vital  to  their  well- 
being  for  the  fifty  dollars  spent  in  taxes  than  in  a  similar 
amount  spent  in  any  other  way.  A  single  illness,  a  single 
fire,  a  single  robbery,  could  easily  have  amounted  to  more 
than  the  year's  levy. 

However,  his  patriotic  fervor  did  not  make  him  willing 
to  pay  more  than  is  sufl5cient  to  provide  first  class  service. 
He  wanted  his  government,  in  the  words  of  the  bureau,  run 
with  real  economy  because  in  the  end  that  means  greater 
and  better  service  to  citizens.  Nor  did  he  feel  any  more  in- 
clined to  pay  through  unjust  assessment,  more  than  his  part. 


'    MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENT  15 

but  he  was  willing  to  pay  cheerfully  his  share  in  money  and 
in  personal  interest  for  the  large  returns  which  he  received. 

The  Welfare  of  Public  Employees. — These  illustra- 
tions are  something  more,  however,  than  striking  exam- 
ples of  suggestive  publicity.  They  serve  to  illustrate  and 
illuminate  the  wide  scope  of  municipal  life  and  activ- 
ity. Still  other  examples  may  be  adduced  from  the 
annual  reviews  of  the  Secretary  of  the  National  Munic- 
ipal League.  In  the  January,  1916,  issue  of  the 
National  Municipal  Review  under  the  caption  of 
''American  Conceptions  of  Municipal  Government"  he 
showed  that  under  the  Mitchel  administration  in  New 
York  City,  which  has  made  many  new  records,  much  im- 
portant work  is  being  done  for  the  welfare  of  the  city 
employees.  In  the  first  place,  a  lunch-room  in  the 
municipal  building  has  been  provided  for  the  women 
employees  of  the  city.  It  is  self-supporting,  and  run 
under  the  supervision  of  a  committee  of  women  organ- 
ized and  selected  by  the  women  themselves.  This  was 
the  first  attempt,  I  believe,  of  any  city  to  supply  a  con- 
venience that  is  now  only  supplied  by  great  corporations. 

An  employers'  conference  committee  has  been  organ- 
ized. This  committee  is  representative  both  of  the  classi- 
fied and  unclassified  service,  and  consists  of  representa- 
tives chosen  directly  by  the  employees  and  a  representa- 
tive chosen  by  the  heads  of  departments.  It  is  hoped  that 
a  great  deal  will  be  accomplished  by  this  conference  com- 
mittee to  bring  about  a  better  relation  and  understanding 
between  the  administration  and  its  employees. 

Semi-monthly  payment  of  salaries  has  been  established 
in  a  number  of  the  departments  where  the  consensus 
shows  that  the  majority  were  in  favor  of  making  the 
change.     Those  changes  have  been  advocated  by  the  vari- 


l6         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

ous  civil  service  papers,  particularly  for  the  police  and 
fire  departments,  on  the  plea  that  it  will  save  a  great  many- 
city  employees  from  applying  to  loan-sharks  and  loan 
agencies  for  funds  to  carry  them  through  the  month. 

Comptroller  Prendergast  has  also  established  a  system 
of  having  on  each  pay  day  an  amount  of  cash  ready  in 
the  paymaster's  office,  sufficient  to  pay  off  a  large  major- 
ity of  the  checks.  This  has  been  found  a  great  con- 
venience by  the  employees  who  formerly  had  to  change 
their  checks  at  different  stores  and  frequently  brought 
men  to  saloons,  when  it  invariably  happened  that  a  cer- 
tain expenditure  had  to  be  made  in  order  to  get  the 
desired  accommodation.  The  department  of  health  has 
instituted  a  system  of  periodical  physical  examination  of 
employees. 

I  might  proceed  with  the  inventory,  all  to  the  end, 
however,  of  showing  that  the  city  administration  cares — 
cares  for  the  people  who  are  working  with  it  in  the  pub- 
lic behalf.  Moreover,  we  see  that  the  city  governments 
throughout  the  country  are  coming  to  care  for  the  people 
in  a  way  that  was  unthought  of  and  unheard  of  a  genera- 
tion ago.  It  is  to  be  found  in  the  extension  of  facilities 
for  wholesome  outdoor  recreation,  as  was  set  forth  in 
the  Dayton  advertisemertt,  of  educational  facilities  for 
those  whose  school  days  are  necessarily  limited;  for  the 
upbuilding  of  the  individual  in  health  and  strength  and 
power. 

Public  Safety  and  Public  Welfare. — Municipalities 
are  considering  its  relation  to  its  food  supply.^  The 
reports  of  the  National  Municipal  League's  committee  on 

*  See  two  reports  of  National  Municipal  League's  Committee 
on  the  Relation  of  the  City  to  Its  Food  Supply,  Dr.  Clyde  Lyn- 
don King,  Chairman. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENT  17 

this  subject  abounds  with  instances  of  what  is  being  done 
along  th-ese  Hnes.  Newton  D.  Baker,  while  Mayor  of 
Cleveland,  showed  how  the  police  were  intimately  related 
to  the  social  problems,  and  how  they  could  be  utilized  in 
the  solution  of  sundry  social  problems,  and  in  highly 
important  preventive  work.  The  administration  of  Po- 
lice Commissioner  Woods  in  New  York  has  been  char- 
acterized, not  only  by  increased  efficiency  along  adminis- 
trative lines,  but  by  the  utilization  of  the  police  in  finding 
employment  and  in  saving  men,  women  and  children 
from  dangerous  and  degrading  surroundings,  and  in  de- 
veloping the  patrolmen  as  an  effective  adjunct  of  the 
army  and  navy  in  times  of  war. 

An  impressive  note  is  the  proposition  to  utilize  the 
police  for  parole  and  reformatory  work.  The  time  is 
coming  when  the  value  of  a  patrolman's  service  will  be 
determined,  not  by  the  number  of  men  he  starts  on  the 
way  to  jail  or  prison,  but  by  the  number  he  keeps  out 
of  such  places,  and  starts  on  a  career  of  usefulness. 

Interest  of  the  city  in  better  housing  is  growing,  not 
so  rapidly  as  the  more  zealous  of  us  would  wish,  but, 
nevertheless,  it  is  growing.  Infant  life  protection  is  an- 
other topic  which  is  coming  in  for  definite  and  effective 
work  at  the  hands  of  city  officials.  Health  exhibitions 
are  increasing  in  number;  and  so  the  list  might  be  con- 
tinued, all  to  show  that  a  new  conception  of  municipal 
Hfe  is  taking  hold  of  the  American  people — the  concep- 
tion of  the  utilization  of  the  great  powers  of  government 
to  overcome  the  evil  effects  of  environment  and  heredity 
and  adverse  conditions  generally.  Not  through  the  law 
as  such,  but  through  the  law  as  representing  the  consen- 
sus of  public  opinion. 

In  the  annual  review  for  1916,  under  the  head  of 
"Municipal  Preparedness,"  the  secretary  of  the  National 


i8  EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Municipal  League  said  that  it  is  not  only  along  financial, 
governmental  and  political  lines  that  the  great  changes 
and  advances  are  to  be  noted.  Prof.  Ernst  Freund,  in 
an  article  on  ''Tendencies  of  Legislative  Policy  and 
Modern  Social  Legislation,"^  shows  how  the  last  ten 
years  have  witnessed  remarkable  changes  in  the  attitude 
of  American  courts  toward  social  legislation.  There  has 
been  an  equally  great  change  on  the  part  of  legislatures, 
city,  state  and  national,  and  all  these  changes  are  but  the 
reflection  and  outgrowth  of  the  changes  in  the  concep- 
tions and  aspirations  of  the  American  people.  In  no  other 
phase  of  municipal  life  has  there  been  manifested  a 
greater  concern  for  the  future,  a  stronger  and  more  per- 
sistent demand  for  preparation.  The  recreation  con- 
gress at  Grand  Rapids  issued  its  program  for  "Com- 
munity Buildings  and  Character  Buildings  through  Play" 
under  the  title  "Preparedness  for  Peace." 

The  annual  report  of  the  director  of  the  Dayton  de- 
partment of  public  welfare  (Rev.  D.  Frank  Garland) 
made  this  statement : 

A  probation  system,  entirely  new  in  the  history  of  work- 
house administration,  so  far  as  we  know,  was  established 
April  I,  1915,  under  which  men  and  women  were  secured 
work  in  shops  or  factories  or  houses  at  regular  wages. 
These  persons  received  no  liberties,  except  the  liberty  to 
work  for  pay  outside  the  institution  between  the  hours  of 
6.30  in  the  morning  and  5.30  at  night.  The  money  thus 
earned  was  distributed  by  the  prisoner  and  his  wife  (if 
married),  under  the  supervision  of  the  superintendent  of 
corrections,  in  the  payment  of  debts,  in  the  support  of  wife 
and  children  or  dependents,  in  the  purchase  of  clothing,  etc. 
The  results  have  been  eminently  satisfactory.  Thirty-six 
men  during  191 5  were  thus  put  on  probation,  only  three  of 

'International  Journal  of  Ethics,  October,  1916. 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENT  19 

whom  violated  our  confidence,  resulting  in  the  withdrawal 
of  the  privilege.  These  men  earned  in  eight  months 
$2,025.70.  Following  this  test,  a  parole  is  granted  and  the 
prisoner  is  allowed  to  leave  the  institution. 

The  parole  system,  as  the  Philadelphia  bureau  of  munic- 
ipal research  points  out,  is  the  most  delicate  task  that 
government  has  assumed  thus  far.  Although  it  is  fairly 
new,  this  much  has  been  definitely  established :  that  it 
can  only  be  successfully  operated  where  ^'politics"  are 
rigidly  and  uncompromisingly  excluded,  and  where  parole 
and  probation  ofiBcers  are  appointed  and  hold  their  posi- 
tions only  by  reason  of  fitness  for  this  new  kind  of  work. 
Where  favoritism  is  shown  or  where  respect  for  officers 
is  lacking,  the  system  collapses  like  a  house  of  cards,  so 
far  as  real  results  are  concerned.  In  other  words,  polit- 
ical and  social  preparedness  must  go  hand  in  hand  if  we 
are  to  make  genuine  progress  that  will  last. 

A  Canadian  official  declares  the  best  time  to  save  the 
criminal  is  before  he  becomes  one.  It  costs  less  in  money, 
and  infinitely  less  in  some  other  things  that  are  worth 
much  more  than  money.  Prevention  is  a  greater  word 
than  reformation:  *'The  highest  achievement  of  the 
state  or  of  the  Church  is  not  a  man  rescued  in  mid-career 
from  a  life  of  vice  and  crime,  but  rather  a  child,  strength- 
ened in  will  and  purpose,  clean  in  hand  and  in  heart, 
fitted  by  training  and  discipline  for  a  whole  long  life 
of  service  and  usefulness.  ...  In  our  love  for  the  spec- 
tacular we  have  called  the  former  the  greater  service,  but 
it  is  not,  even  though  at  times  it  appears  to  make  a 
greater  demand  upon  our  faith.  The  problem  of  the 
criminal,  when  it  is  brought  down  to  its  final  analysis, 
is  the  problem  of  the  child.  The  hope  of  the  future  does 
not  lie  in  the  perfecting  of  our  method  for  reaching  the 


20  EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

man,  but  in  our  making  the  most  of  our  opportunity  of 
winning  the  boy." 

Social  Hygiene. — It  may  now  be  said,  Dr.  Snow  of" 
the  American  Social  Hygiene  Association  tells  us,  that 
social  hygiene  is  essentially  a  constructive  movement  for 
the  promotion  of  all  those  conditions  of  living,  environ- 
ment, and  personal  conduct  which  will  best  protect  the 
family  as  an  institution  and  secure  a  rational  sex  life  for 
the  individual  of  each  generation.  This  is  well  shown 
by  the  forceful  statement  of  Dr.  Edward  L.  Keyes,  Jr., 
descriptive  of  the  aims  and  methods  of  such  societies  to- 
day. "The  elimination  of  disease  and  prostitution  can- 
not be  attained  solely  by  the  enforced  registration  of 
venereal  diseases,  the  raiding  of  disorderly  houses,  and 
the  enactment  of  laws  against  procuration  and  solicita- 
tion. The  real  strength  of  the  social  hygiene  movement 
of  to-day  lies  in  the  cooperative  activities  of  the  great 
religious,  social  and  educational  organizations.  They  are 
striking  the  evil  at  its  source ;  not  by  driving  the  prostitute 
into  the  street  and  then  out  of  it  again,  but  by  preventing 
our  young  girls  from  becoming  prostitutes,  and  our 
young  men  from  preying  upon  them.  This  they  hope  to 
achieve  by  informing  the  mind  so  as  to  banish  prurient 
curiosity,  by  diverting  the  imagination  to  emotions  joyous 
and  clean,  by  exercising  the  body  in  playgrounds  and 
dance  halls  that  are  safe,  and,  above  all,  by  inspiring  the 
soul  with  the  highest  religious  and  family  and  civic  ideals. 
To  turn  lust  into  love,  'into  the  enthralling  love  of  mate 
for  equal  mate,  into  civic  love  for  freedom,  home,  and 
state,  into  the  eternal  love  of  God  and  of  all  things 
create'  such  is  our  aspiration."  Eventually  it  is  possible 
that  social  hygiene  may  find  its  place  as  an  inclusive 
designation  for  a  group  of  organized  and  affiliated  move- 


MUNICIPAL  IMPROVEMENT  21 

ments  which  deal  with  community  problems  in  which 
social  and  moral  factors  as  distinct  from  sanitary  factors 
are  of  primary  importance,  and  indeed  an  established  part 
of  the  municipal  government  itself,  it  is  logically  a  com- 
panion term  to  public  hygiene,  or  public  health,  which  is 
its  popular  equivalent. 

City  Planning. — There  is  another  movement  which 
calls  for  attention  in  any  consideration  of  conceptions 
of  American  municipal  government ;  the  movement  popu- 
larly known  as  city  planning,  a  phrase  much  more  often 
used  than  defined.  There  was  a  time  when  it  was  prac- 
tically a  scheme  for  "the  city  beautiful"; now  it  has  a 
much  richer  and  a  much  more  comprehensive  meaning. 
Its  development  has  been  in  accordance  with  the  growth 
of  the  movement  to  place  our  cities  upon  a  more  sub- 
stantial, a  more  respectable,  a  more  useful  basis.  Henry 
R.  Aldridge,  the  secretary  of  the  English  National  Hous- 
ing and  Town  Planning  Council,  and  a  veteran  in  the 
cause  of  city  planning,  declares  in  his  new  book,  "A  Case 
for  Town  Planning,"  that  "the  phrase  should  come  to 
clearheaded  administrators  as  an  appeal  for  the  substitu- 
jtion  of  order  in  the  place  oTcEaoi"incity^~growth; — To^ 
those  members  of  municipal  committees  responsible  for 
the  guardianship  of  the  health  of  the  population,  the 
appeal  would  be  that  of  the  wisdoipi  of  prevention  as 
compared  with  the  wastefulness  of  cure.  To  those  re- 
sponsible for  the  wise  administration  of  municipal  rev- 
enues, the  appeal  is  strong  and  direct.  They  have  wit- 
nessed for  many  years  the  waste  of  the  taxpayers'  money 
on  school-house  schemes,  on  road-widening  schemes  and 
on  many  other  schemes  which  never  would  have  been 
necessary  at  all  if  town-planning  care  and  foresight  had 
been  exercised.     To  them  the  case   for  town-planning 


22         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

on  the  financial  side  is  overwhelming:  they  realize  that 
the  sick  man  is  a  burden  to  the  community,  while  the 
healthy  man  is  an  asset:  the  one  has  to  be  carried,  the 
other  carries  his  own  burdens  and  helps  to  carry  the 
burdens  of  others." 

The  New  Conception  of  Municipal  Life. — Here  we 
have  another  phase  of  the  new  conception  of  municipal 
life :  the  obligation  resting  upon  the  community  to  de- 
velop'Iiealthy  men,  women  and  children — healthy  physi- 
cally, healthy  morally  and  healthy  spiritually;  and  the 
amount  of  thought  and  time  and  attention  given  to  pro- 
moting these  ends  during  the  past  decade  is  one  of  the 
big,  encouraging  factors  in  American  history. 

From  this  deliberately  sketchy  chapter,  the  reader  will 
carry  away  an  impression  of  the  "wide  scope  of  munic- 
ipal improvement,"  the  development  of  interest  and  the 
complexity  of  modern  life,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped,  the  firm 
and  definite  conviction  that  the  government  of  our  cities 
calls  for  the  science  of  trained,  intelligent  officials. 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  INADEQUACY  OF  PRESENT  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

THIS  ought  to  be  the  easiest  chapter  in  the  book  to 
write,  for,  barring  a  few  unconscionable  optimists, 
all  the  leading  authorities  agree  that  American  city  gov- 
ernment is  woefully  inadequate.  The  only  danger  is  that 
if  we  draw  freely  upon  the  literature  of  criticism  the 
discussion  will  expand  to  such  limits  as  to  crowd  all  other 
chapters  out  of  the  voluipe.  Merely  to  define  inadequacy 
as  applied  to  city  government  involves  a  thorough  con- 
sideration of  civic  science,  and  to  describe  it  as  applied 
to  existing  American  conditions  r-equires  an  appeal  to 
civic  history  and  to  a  general  survey  of  civic  conditions. 
Therefore,  we  must  forego  the  grim  pleasure  of  defining 
it  precisely  or  describing  it  in  detail.  * 

It  is  not  our  task  carefully  to  evaluate  municipal  prog- 
ress. There  is  no  reason  why  we  should  repeat  the 
well-worn  phrases  of  denunciation  or  the  blind  self-gratu- 
lations  of  a  cheap  optimism.  What  we  must  try  to  do, 
is  to  make  a  general  analysis  of  civic  purposes  and  civic 
methods  in  the  light  of  the  civic  results  which  are  open 
to  the  eyes  of  the  world. 

Congestion  of  Population,  the  Raison  d*Etre  of  City 
Government. — Broadly  speaking,  the  raison  d'etre  of 
city  government  is  congestion  of  population.  Its  pur- 
pose is  to  overcome  or  ameliorate  by  cooperation  the  dis- 
advantages of  human  life  arising  out  of  that  fact,  and 

23 


24  EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

conversely,  though  perhaps  in  a  lesser  degree,  to  cultivate 
and  make  available  the  advantages  inherent  in  it.  I  use 
the  term  "congestion"  for  lack  of  a  better  one.  I  do  not 
mean  to  imply  by  it  a  social  sickness  attended  by  a  fever 
that  is  likely  to  be  fatal.  Indeed,  I  use  the  term  in  the 
sense  declared  by  the  dictionary  to  be  obsolete,  as  mean- 
ing merely  aggregation  or  gathering  together,  without 
any  implication  at  all  as  to  oz/^rcrowding,  unhealthfulness 
or  abnormality.  I  use  the  term  to  distinguish  the  funda- 
mental fact  that  characterizes  urban  life  as  such.  In 
saying  that  the  purpose  of  city  government  is  to  overcome 
the  disadvantages  and  to  cultivate  the  advantages  of 
urban  life,  we  stop  short  of  stating  its  full  purpose  as 
conceived  under  American  conditions  and  in  the  light 
of  American  political  institutions  and  ideals.  We  must 
add  that  the  aim  is  to  remove  Ihe  disadvantages  and  to 
make  the  advantages  available  for  all.  This  amplifica- 
tion is  necessary  to  make  our  definition  of  purpose 
express  the  spirit  of  democracy. 

Our  first  test,  then,  of  the  adequacy  or  inadequacy  of 
present  city  government  will  be  this:  How  far  does  its 
conscious  purposes  square  with  and  fulfill  this  broad  ideal 
purpose?  How  generally  does  it  know  what  it  is  about 
and  what  it  ought  to  be  about?  And  when  we  sj>eak  of 
city  government  having  "conscious  purposes"  and  "know- 
ing what  it  is  about,"  we  must,  of  course,  refer  to  the 
intellectual  processes  of  the  individual  men  and  women 
who  make  up  the  city  government.  But  city  government 
in  America  theoretically  has  a  foundation  so  broad  as 
to  include  everybody,  or,  at  the  very  least,  everybody 
endowed  with  the  powers  and  privileges  of  an  elector. 
Therefore,  in  testing  the  adequacy  of  the  conscious  pur- 
poses of  city  government,  we  have  to  consider  not  merely 
what  mayors,   city  managers,   aldermen,   commissioners 


INADEQUACY  OF  CITY  GOVERNMENT  25 

and  policemen  are  thinking  about,  but  also  what  the  citi- 
zens are  thinking  about.  Potentially,  if  not  actually,  they 
are  the  ''power  behind  the  throne."  And  so  our  question 
reduces  itself  to  these  simple  terms :  What  does  the 
average  citizen  think  the  city  government  is  for?  How 
far  does  he  und-erstand  its  ideal  purposes?  What  are 
the  disadvantages  of  city  life  which  he  thinks  it  ought 
to  overcome  ?  What  are  the  advantages  which  he  thinks 
it  ought  to  cultivate  and  make  available  ? 

If  we  were  to  judge  by  the  words  that  fall  lightly  from 
the  lips  of  citizens,  we  should  conclude  that  the  prevalent 
conception  of  city  government  is  either  that  of  an  ex- 
pensive, but  unavoidable  evil,  or  that  of  an  instrumen- 
tality for  the  distribution  of  favors  and  jobs  to  those  who 
are  in  a  position  to  use  it.  Doubtless,  many,  even  of 
those  who  express  themselves  cynically  or  selfishly,  have 
a  higher  ideal  and  a  better  understanding  of  the  purposes 
of  city  government  than  their  careless  words  would  ex- 
press. There  are,  besides,  many  citizens  who  as  teachers, 
editorial  writers,  lecturers,  social  workers,  civic  reform- 
ers, government  employees  and  candidates  for  public 
office,  give  oartial  expression  to  a  broader  and  more 
fundamental  conception  of  city  government. 

Public  Interest  vs.  Private  Interests. — A  distinction 
is  often  made  between  public  and  private  interests,  but 
this  distinction,  which  is  the  major  premise* of  city  gov- 
ernment in  its  restrictive  aspects,  is  often  blurred  over 
in  the  consciousness  of  the  people  and  is  seldom  or  never 
as  sharply  drawn  as  it  ought  to  be.  Civic  spirit,  which 
may  be  regarded  as  the  manifestation  in  individuals  of 
a  recognition  of  the  public  interest,  is  sometimes  con- 
fused with  other  things  that  masquerade  in  its  habili- 
ments.    The  refinements  of  thought  and  feeling  which 


26         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

characterize  the  broadening  of  a  narrow  personal  or 
family  selfishness  into  civic  spirit  are  both  gradual  and 
subtle.  But  they  are  all  important.  Until  the  citizen 
becomes  conscious  of  the  city  as  an  entity  greater  and 
more  important  than  himself,  his  concept  of  the  purpose 
and  functions  of  city  government  will  be  narrow  and 
wholly  inadequate.  The  difference  is  well  illustrated  in 
the  politics  of  Cleveland  where  the  Tom  Johnson  group 
proclaimed  their  purpose  to  make  Cleveland  "a  city  set 
upon  a  hill."  Their  opponents  cynically  referred  to  the 
Cleveland  of  the  Johnson-Baker  regime  as  "a  city  built 
on  a  bluff."  This  suggests  the  charge  of  "humbug"  that 
is  so  often  made  against  so-called  reform  administrations, 
because  they  profess  to  be  disinterested  in  their  official 
policies  and  acts.  One  of  the  most  widespread  and  deep- 
seated  causes  of  cynicism  and  indifference  among  the 
people  of  cities  is  the  notion,  which  often  has  the  strength 
of  a  conviction,  that  no  matter  what  party  is  put  into 
power  and  no  matter  what  candidates  are  elected,  the 
results  will  be  much  the  same — extravagance,  incompe- 
tence, a  betrayal  of  the  public  interest  and  an  exploita- 
tion of  power  for  personal  ends. 

Young  men  are  warned  not  to  go  into  politics,  and 
election  to  a  city  office  is  often  regarded  as  a  stepping 
stone  to  a  life  of  personal  dissipation  and  a  general 
breaking  down  of  character.  It  is  "beyond  human 
power"  that  men  should  efface  themselves  in  public 
service  and  vote  and  work  with  complete  indifference  to 
their  personal  interests.  In  general,  the  electors  are 
justified  in  guiding  their  actions  by  a  policy  of  enlight- 
ened selfishness,  on  the  assumption  that  what  is  good 
for  the  citizens  individually  is  good  for  them  collec- 
tively. But  if  selfishness  is  to  be  a  proper  motive  to 
control  citizen  action  it  must  be  surely  enlightened.    If 


INADEQUACY  OF  CITY  GOVERNMENT    27 

a  person  who  has  no  taxable  property  votes  for  ex- 
travagance because  he  thinks  that  others  will  have  to 
pay  the  bills;  if  a  tax-payer,  in  order  to  keep  down  the 
tax-rate,  votes  against  increasing  official  salaries  to  a 
standard  in  some  measure  commensurate  with  the 
services  he  expects  public  officials  to  render;  if  a  man 
who  has  no  children,  for  that  reason  votes  for  a  niggardly 
policy  as  to  public  education;  if  a  citizen  with  a  fine 
home  and  all  the  sanitary  conveniences  that  wealth  can 
afford,  votes  against  the  exercise  of  public  authority,  and 
the  expenditure  of  public  money  to  improve  sanitary 
conditions  in  the  homes  of  the  poor ;  if  an  electorate  votes 
to  saddle  the  legitimate  expenses  of  city  government  on 
another  generation  by  an  improvident  bond  issue,  the 
selfishness  that  prompts  these  actions  gropes  in  darkness, 
and  the  selves  that  are  served  by  them  are  too  small  for 
citizenship  in  a  city.  It  is  right  and  proper  that  a  person 
entering  the  city  service  either  as  a  responsible  official 
or  as  a  subordinate  employee  should  be  actuated  by  ordi- 
nary motives  of  self-interest  in  seeking  to  make  a  living 
and  an  honorable  career  for  himself. 

But  if  we  concede  that  everybody  connected  with  the 
city  government  is  motivated  by  self-interest,  what  be- 
comes of  the  difference  between  what  we  may  call  the 
Tammany  motive  and  the  City  Club  motive  ?  I  use  these 
terms  in  a  general  sense  to  typify  the  old  style  politicians 
and  the  reformers,  and  without  any  particular  reference 
to  local  conditions  in  New  York.  We  must  not  insist 
on  finding  a  difference  where  there  is  none,  nor  in  prov- 
ing it  by  superficial  appearances.  The  real  difference  in 
motives,  where  there  is  one,  is  the  same  sort  of  difference 
that  divides  the  business  world  into  two  classes  of  men, 
both  selfish  in  the  sense  that  they  are  seeking  economic 
gain.     Men  of  one  class  seek  to  get  ahead  by  superior 


28         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

merit.  They  try  to  put  brains  and  human  energy  into 
the  production  of  commodities  or  the  rendition  of 
services  which  shall  be  worth  more  to  the  buyer  than 
he  pays  for  them.  Men  of  another  class  rack  their 
brains,  such  as  they  have,  to  deceive  or  cajole  their  fellow- 
men  into  giving  up  money  to  them  for  something  that 
is  not  worth  while,  or  to  secure  some  unfair  advantage 
by  which  others  may  be  compelled  to  pay  more  than  a 
fair  price  for  goods  or  services.  The  distinction  is  made 
every  day  in  the  case  of  business  men,  working  men  and 
clerks.  Some  are  tricky  and  some  are  honest.  Some 
want  their  pay  first  and  are  indifferent  as  to  the  service 
they  render  afterwards,  while  others  strive  to  render 
service  first  and  then  expect  fair  compensation  for  it. 
Some  employees  demand  an  increase  of  salary  as  the 
price  of  doing  good  work.  Others  do  good  work,  ex- 
pecting that  to  help  them  get  higher  pay.  In  great  cities, 
where  social  organization  is  extremely  complex,  and 
men's  efforts  are  in  many  cases  hidden  from  those  who 
are  affected  by  them,  the  acid  test  of  service  rendered  is 
not  easily  applied,  and  young  men  entering  business  or 
professional  life  are  tempted  to  set  up  as  their  standard 
of  success  ability  to  get  other  people's  money  away  from 
them  and  keep  out  of  jail  in  the  process.  This  motive 
has  such  wide  currency  that  in  many  circles  it  is  regarded 
as  legitimate  and  respectable,  just  as  is  the  case  with  the 
political  motive  of  using  governmental  power  to  distribute 
jobs  to  one's  friends  and  followers  and  political  influ- 
ence to  get  financial  favors  and  s|>ecial  privileges  for 
oneself.  As  applied  to  city  government,  therefore,  the 
difference  between  the  ^Tammany  motive"  and  the  "City 
Club  motive"  is  this — the  former  looks  to  getting,  with- 
out reference  to  the  value  of  the  service  rendered.     The 


INADEQUACY  OF  CITY  GOVERNMENT    29 

latter  looks  to  giving  honest  and  intelligent  service  and 
receiving  a  just  reward  for  it. 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  cant  in  the  talk  about  the 
.public  spirit  manifested  by  men  who  render  public  ser- 
vice without  receiving  any  compensation  for  it.  Of 
course,  every  citizen  ought  to  be  able,  and  willing,  if 
able,  to  take  part  in  public  affairs  without  being  paid 
for  it,  but  many  men  cannot  afford  even  the  time  it  takes 
to  vote  if  they  are  compelled  thereby  to  lose  a  day's 
wages.  And  so  it  has  been  suggested  sometimes  that 
every  elector  should  receive  a  fee  for  casting  his  ballot. 
Even  this  extreme  suggestion  is  not  a  concession  to  self- 
ishness in  the  narrow  sense  of  the  term,  but  a  recogni- 
tion that  voting  is  a  pubic  service,  not  a  mere  personal 
privilege,  and  that  in  performing  this  service  a  citizen  is 
contributing  to  the  general  welfare,  rather  than  striving 
to  protect  himself  as  a  private  individual  or  to  further 
his  own  private  interests.  Every  citizen  ought  to  devote 
a  portion  of  his  leisure,  if  he  has  any,  to  the  formation 
of  intelligent  public  opinion  with  reference  to  the  pur- 
poses and  methods  of  city  government.  But  the  de- 
mand that  men  shall  give  their  days  freely  to  public 
service  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  or  the  neces- 
sities of  democracy.  In  most  cases  where  they  are  able 
and  willing  to  do  it,  it  is  as  a  sort  of  penance  for  the  un- 
usual advantages  they  have  received  by  which  they  or 
their  ancestors  have  been  enabled  to  accumulate  wealth, 
or  else  it  is  a  subtle  means  of  advertising  by  which 
they  hope  to  enlarge  their  fortunes,  attain  social  promi- 
nence, secure  political  power,  or  get  some  other  of  the 
rewards  of  life  not  generally  within  the  reach  of  per- 
sons who  have  not  attained  a  competence.  Men  of 
wealth  are  not  to  be  blamed  for  devoting  themselves  to 
public  service,  but  they  ought  not  to  expect  extraordi- 


30         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

nary  rewards  for  doing  so,  and  such  rewards  ought  not 
be  given.  Otherwise,  democracy  is  transformed  into  a 
benevolent  plutocracy,  and  only  the  rich  can  have  public 
spirit. 

In  drawing  a  line  between  the  "Tammany  motive"  and 
the  "City  Club  motive,"  we  cannot  stop  with  the  con- 
sideration of  the  attitude  of  voters  and  office  holders. 
What  shall  we  say  of  the  men  who  sell  goods  to  the 
city,  who  enter  into  contracts  with  it  and  who  receive 
concessions  from  it  to  enable  them  to  perform  semi- 
public  services?  The  city  has  to  buy  goods,  public 
works  have  to  be  constructed  either  by  contract  or  other- 
wise, and  public  utility  services  have  to  be  rendered 
either  by  public  or  by  private  operation.  So  long  as 
these  goods  and  services  are  supplied  by  private  indi- 
viduals, it  is  perfectly  honorable  for  such  individuals 
to  demand  reasonable  compensation.  But  the  danger  of 
combining  the  possession  of  governmental  power  with 
opportunities  for  financial  profit  are  so  clearly  recog- 
nized that  many  city  charters  absolutely  prohibit  any 
city  official  or  employee  from  having  any  interest  direct 
or  indirect  in  any  contract  with  the  city  or  in  the  sale  of 
any  goods  to  it.  This  prohibition  is  sometimes  quite 
embarrassing  where  men  who  in  the  regular  course  of 
their  business  furnish  the  city  with  certain  supplies  are 
thereby  rendered  ineligible  for  public  office  unless  they 
discontinue  the  services  they  have  been  accustomed  to 
render  as  merchants.  It  should  be  recognized  as  perfectly 
honorable  to  sell  things  to  the  city  and  to  perform  ser- 
vices for  the  city  under  contract,  and  to  do  so  for  legiti- 
mate profit.  The  trouble  arises  when  citizens  having 
financial  dealings  with  the  city  attempt  to  take  advantage 
of  political  influence  or  vx  the  faulty  methods  or  inalert- 
ness  of  city  officials  in  doing  city  business  to  foist  upon 


INADEQUACY  OF  CITY  GOVERNMENT    31 

the  city  inferior  goods  or  services,  or  to  get  exorbitant 
prices  for  them.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  an  ade- 
quate public  conception  of  the  purposes  of  city  govern- 
ment would  visit  the  citizen  who  tried  to  steal  from  or 
cheat  the  city  with  the  same  degree  of  contempt  that 
is  heaped  on  a  man  who  would  rob  his  mother.  It  is 
unfortunate  that  the  imperfect  methods  of  doing  city 
business  sometimes  make  it  impossible  for  the  best  class 
of  citizens  to  compete  for  it.  Contractors  for  public 
work  as  a  class  often  have  a  very  bad  reputation  for 
honesty  in  some  particular  city,  but  this  is  as  much  to 
the  discredit  of  controlling  public  opinion  as  it  is  to  the 
contractors'  discredit.  A  city  that  had  the  right  idea  of 
the  purposes  of  government  would  not  be  compelled  to 
deal  habitually  with  crooks  in  getting  public  work  done. 
We  still  have  to  consider  the  all-important  play  of 
motives  in  the  operation  of  public  utilities.  An  ade- 
quate conception  of  the  functions  of  city  government 
would  strip  away  the  private  and  speculative  wrappings 
of  public  utility  enterprises  and  would  take  hold  firmly 
of  the  central  fact,  namely,  that  the  operation  of  public 
utilities  is  public  business,  and  that  its  controlling  motive 
must  be  service  rather  than  the  exploitation  of  urban 
necessities.  This  does  not  absolutely  shut  the  door  to 
nominal  private  ownership  and  operation,  but  it  pre- 
scribes public  service  as  the  motive  that  must  dominate 
the  business,  and  unless  this  motive  can  be  made  domi- 
nant in  private  operation,  nothing  short  of  public  owner- 
ship and  operation  will  be  tolerable.  Perhaps  in  no 
respect  is  the  effective  popular  conception  of  the  true 
purposes  of  city  government  more  inadequate  than  in 
relation  to  public  utilities.  The  idea  that  services  which 
can  be  rendered  at  a  profit  should  be  left  for  private 
exploitation,  and  that  only  necessary  services  incapable 


32  EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

of  being  commercialized  should  be  undertaken  by  the 
city,  is  still  in  effect  the  dominant  one,  though  there  is 
much  reason  to  believe  that  the  majority  of  urban  resi- 
dents hold  another  vi-ew,  if  somewhat  vaguely.  This 
phase  of  the  problem  of  city  government  is  closely  re- 
lated to  our  ideas  about  public  and  private  initiative,  and 
so  long  as  citizenship  lacks  the  cohesive  power  of  public 
servic-e,  the  city  government  will  be  lacking  in  the  con- 
structive intelligence  necessary  for  the  performance  of 
its  great  tasks.  Cities  are  now  comparatively  helpless 
in  the  face  of  the  tremendous  private  initiative  for  the 
exploitation  of  public  services.  The  very  conditions  of 
urban  life,  especially  in  the  great  centers  of  population, 
have  rendered  private  initiative  in  the  performance  of 
public  services  inadequate  and  increasingly  obsolete. 

The  Opportunity  for  Experts  in  the  City  Govern- 
ment.— It  is  unnecessary  to  try  to  describe  in  detail 
the  disadvantages  of  urban  life  which  it  is  the  purpose 
of  city  government  to  overcome  or  the  advantages  which 
it  is  its  purpose^to  develop  and  make  available  to  all. 
The  disadvantages  include  the  inadequacy  of  the  local 
food  and  water  supply,  the  accumulation  of  dangerous 
wastes,  the  restriction  of  space  available  for  recreation, 
the  enlargement  and  crowding  together  of  buildings  used 
for  business  and  residential  purposes,  the  mutual  inter- 
ferences through  congestion  of  traffic,  the  extreme  divi- 
sion of  labor  with  the  resultant  elimination  of  the  educa- 
tional opportunitties  for  children  in  connection  with 
home  industries,  the  necessary  separation  of  business 
from  residential  locations  involving  the  problem  of 
urban  transit,  the  enormous  increase  in  the  value  of  land 
and  the  consequent  increase  in  rents  and  the  impossi- 
bility of  general  home  ownership,  the  increased  oppor- 


INADEQUACY  OF  CITY  GOVERNMENT    33 

tunities  for  organized  crime  and  vice,  the  greater  danger 
of  the  spread  of  epidemic  diseases,  the  constant  peril  of 
destruction  by  lire  through  other  people's  carelessness, 
the  loss  of  privacy  in  family  life,  and  what  else  not? — 
for  urban  life  transforms  man's  environment  and  sets 
him  to  live  in  a  new  world  full  of  th-e  perils  of  civiliza- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  the  actual  and  potential  ad- 
vantages of  urban  life  measure  the  difference  between 
primitive  individualism  and  the  highest  attainments  of 
humanity.  Urban  life  makes  possible  paved  streets, 
beautiful  parks,  magnificent  public  buildings,  fully 
equipped  general  and  technical  schools,  free  public 
libraries,  gas  and  electric  light  and  power,  the  greatest 
possible  variety  of  food  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  the 
best  medical  and  surgical  treatment  almost  on  the  in- 
stant of  needing  it,  museums,  art  galleries,  theaters  and 
concert  halls,  cheap  and  comfortable  transit,  public  baths 
and  fountains,  an  abundant  supply  of  pure  water  under 
pressure — the  list  is  almost  endless.  The  city  is  the 
torch-bearer  of  civilization,  the  priestess  of  culture,  the 
herald  of  democracy.  Yet  the  ideal  city  does  not  yet 
exist.  What  we  see  and  have  is  but  the  raw  material, 
an  opportunity  to  create  the  city.^  We  need  only  see 
the  vision  to  realize  the  inadequacy  of  our  every-day 
conceptions  of  the  purposes  and  functions  of  city  gov- 
ernment. There  can  be  no  higher  appeal  to  the  brains, 
the  energy  and  the  eager  soul  of  man  than  the  call  of 
the  city  to  its  service. 

Inadequacy  of  Administration. — The  inadequacy  of 
the  general  concepts  of  the  purposes  of  city  government 
cannot  but  be  reflected  in  inadequate  methods  employed 
in  municipal  administration.  If  city  government  is 
mere   job-holding,   anybody  will  do   for  a  job-holder. 


34         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

This  is  the  old  raw  idea  of  the  cheap  politicians.  In  a 
reaction  against  the  naive  deadliness  of  this  notion,  pan- 
icky reformers  many  times  appeal  to  the  idea  that  city 
government  is  business,  not  politics,  and  that  civic  salva- 
tion depends  upon  electing  a  good  business  man  for 
mayor  and  giving  him  almost  autocratic  powers  in  the 
conduct  of  public  affairs.  In  this  they  fail  to  see  that 
city  business  is  almost  as  complex  as  life  itself  and  re- 
quires the  sympathetic  attention  of  minds  trained  to 
much  broader  ideas  than  those  of  mere  executive  effi- 
ciency and  money-making.  ONE  man  cannot  make  a 
city  in  two  or  four  years'  time.  It  takes  a  group  of  men 
forever  to  do  it.  And  so  the  notion  that  by  the  magic 
of  popular  election  one  man  can  be  chosen  who  will 
succeed  where  a  hundred  have  failed  is  an  outgrowth  of 
a  wholly  inadequate  conception  of  the  nature  and  im- 
portance of  city  government.  In  the  effort  to  check  the 
depredations  of  politicians  exercising  governmental 
power  and  reduce  the  fatalities  to  a  minimum,  all  sorts 
of  restrictions  have  been  devised  and  incorporated  in 
constitutions,  general  laws  and  city  charters,  until  in 
attempting  to  prevent  city  government  from  going  intol- 
erably wrong,  the  people  have  tied  it  up  so  that  it  cannot 
go  tolerably  right.  A  charter  devised  to  prevent  the 
expected  scoundrels  in  public  office  from  utterly  ruining 
the  city,  keeps  the  unexpected  honest  and  capable  offi- 
cials from  doing  it  much  good.  There  is  no  royal  road 
to  good  city  government,  and  no  dependable  progress 
towards  it  can  be  made  except  as  sound  public  opinion 
is  developed  and  the  number  of  loyal  persons  able  to 
participate  intelligently  in  it  is  increased. 

The  "Econom/*  Shibboleth. — To  many  the  crying 
need  in   city  government  seems  to  be  economy.    The 


INADEQUACY  OF  CITY  GOVERNMENT    35 

"tax-payers"  demand  a  respite  from  the  "tax-eaters." 
Extravagance  and  waste  in  the  name  of  city  government 
are  certainly  wicked  and  should  be  stopped,  but  when 
"economy"  takes  the  form  of  reduced  expenditures,  it 
is  likely  to  prove  to  be  pvenny  wisdom  and  pound  foolish- 
ness. City  government  everywhere  does  much  less  than 
it  ought  to  do,  and  economy  is  a  misleading  shibboleth. 
At  the  best  it  is  a  mere  negative  ideal  and  has  no  place 
in  a  municipal  program  except  as  a  necessary  means 
of  extending  and  improving  governmental  service.  I 
say  this  because  all  American  cities  are  so  far  behind 
the  requirements  of  their  situation  as  to  make  it  a  safe 
prediction  that  no  city  spending  wisely  will  ever  spend 
too  much.  — ^ 

If  the  full  performance  of  the  functions  of  city  gov- 
ernment demands  the  spending  of  more  and  more  money, 
the  method  of  getting  the  money  to  spend  becomes  a 
matter  of  major  importanc-e.  Cities  are  especially  char- 
acterized by  sharp  contrasts  of  great  wealth  and  de- 
grading poverty  dwelling  side  by  side.  While  these  con- 
ditions exist  there  can  be  no  excuse  for  city  govern- 
ment stopping  short  in  the  expenditure  of  money  to  make 
the  advantages  of  city  life  available  to  all.  All  sorts 
of  devices  for  raising  rev-enue  are  being  considered  in 
the  rich  cities  that  feel  too  poor  to  perform  their  func- 
tions. To  many  men  it  seems  that  the  economic  advan- 
tages of  city  life  are  reflected  in  the  site  values  of  .the 
land  and  that  this  reservoir  of  wealth  created  by  the 
community  life  rather  than  by  distinguishable  individual 
endeavors  is  the  source  upon  which  cities  should  freely 
draw  for  the  funds  required  in  overcoming  the  city's  eco- 
nomic disadvantages  and  in  further  developing  its  advan- 
tages. This  idea  fully  carried  out  leads  to  the  thought 
that  land  values  in  cities  are  inherently  public  values,  just 


36         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

as  public  utility  services  are  coming  to  be  recognized  as 
inherently  public  business.  Certain  it  is  that  advantages 
should  be  made  to  pay  for  disadvantages,  and  that  the 
ideal  city  can  never  come  into  being  so  long  as  unexam- 
pled luxury  is  permitted  to  flaunt  itself  before  the  eyes 
of  helpless  squalor.  Methods  of  taxation,  so  funda- 
mentally important  in  the  development  of  city  govern- 
ment, ought  to  be  so  devised  as  to  help  rather  than 
hinder  the  realization  of  the  city's  aims.  And  certainly 
civic  improvements  should  not  be  so  financed  as  to  pyra- 
mid the  burden  on  future  generations  through  the  reck- 
less accumulation  of  debts  incurred  for  perishable  things. 

We  hardly  need  touch  upon  the  actual  results  obtained 
by  present  city  government.  Many  wonderful  things 
are  being  done.  Many  cities,  beautiful  in  parts,  are 
being  built.  The  spirit  of  democracy  is  being  awakened 
in  many  places,  and  the  intelligence  necessary  for  the 
successful  performance  of  civic  functions  is  being  de- 
veloped. Alas,  that  we  cannot  say  more!  We  are  still 
far,  very  far  from  the  goal,  with  no  certainty  that  we 
shall  ever  reach  it.  The  present  status  of  city  govern- 
ment in  America  is  not  encouraging  to  the  careless 
optimism  that  is  sure  things  will  come  out  all  right  in 
the  end  whether  we  make  any  effort  or  not.  The  situa- 
tion' is  not  hopeless,  but  it  is  a  case  where  success  is 
necessary,  not  certain.  We  cannot  afford  to  fail,  but 
every  ounce  of  effort  of  which  all  the  citizens  of  all  the 
cities  are  capable  is  needed  in  this  wonderful  enterprise. 

In  building  cities,  Epimetheus-like,  we  have  accepted 
from  the  hands  of  Zeus  Pandoras  many  with  their  boxes 
full  of  evils.  What  we  have  needed  most  has  most  been 
lacking — forethought,  continuity  of  purpose,  public 
initiative,  coordination  of  effort,  intelligence  in  admin- 
istration and  single-mindedness  in  public  life. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  NEED  FOR  EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT* 

THE  preceding  chapters  of  this  book  have  dealt  with 
the  rapid  grawth  in  the  number  and  size  of  cities 
in  this  country;  with  the  wider  scope  of  municipal  gov- 
ernment, which  has  resulteTTHer^rom ;  and  with  the 
consequently  increasing  strain  upon  the  machinery  of 
municipal  government.  One  of  the  most  insistent  prob- 
lems for  us  is  how  this  strain  is  to  be  met.  We  talk 
about  the  strain  on  the  machinery,  as  if  the  organiza- 
tion were  a  material  thing,  liable  to  be  pressed  out  of 
shape,  or  broken  into  fragments.  This,  in  a  sense,  is 
true;  but,  after  all,  the  organization  is  composed  of 
men,  and  it  is  upon  these  men  that  the  strain  comes. 
Not  only  must  we  so  organize  our  government  as  to 
place  the  men  who  conduct  it  in  as  favorable  a  position 
as  possible  for  doing  their  duty  well ;  but  we  must  also 
see  that  the  men  to  whom  we  confide  the  task  are,  so 
far  as  possible,  qualified  by  their  natural  gifts  and  their 
training  to  carry  the  load.  It  has  been  the  habit  in  all 
ages  for  men  to  speculate  about  what  some  extraordi- 
nary person  from  a  distant  clime  would  think  if  he  came 
to  visit  us. 

De  Tocqueville  loo  Years  Later. — If,  for  instance, 
Alexis  de  Tocqueville,  who  wrote  about  America  loo 

*  Reprinted  from  National  Municipal  Review  of  Jan.,  1915,  with 
some  slight  changes. 

37 


38         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

years  ago,  should  return,  what  changes  would  he  find  in 
our  civilization?  He  would  notice  that  we  were  very 
much  larger  in  numbers,  but  he  would  notice  a  great 
many  other  things  besides.  He  would  observe  that  the 
characteristic,  which  began  with  the  pioneer  on  the 
Atlantic  seaboard  and  gradually  went  westward, — that 
quality  by  which  every  man  had  to  be  "a  jack  of  all 
trades"  in  every  kind  of  occupation, — had  practically 
disappeared.  H^  would  notice  that  no  longer  did  any 
man  expect  to  be  his  own  farmer,  his  own  hunter,  his 
own  carpenter,  his  own  lawyer,  and  perhaps  his  own 
doctor.  The  pioneer  man  must  be  all  those  things. 
The  people  hav-e  developed  from  that  type  of  life.  Our 
country  has  become  like  the  Europe  that  he  knew,  inas- 
much as  the  occupations  of  men  are  far  more  varied 
and  far  more  specialized  than  they  were  when  he  visited 
America.  He  came  not  very  far  from  the  time  when 
cotton  mills  and  railroads  began;  and  at  that  time  any 
successful  merchant  was  good  enough  to  put  at  the  head 
of  a  factory  or  of  a  railroad.  Now  no  one  thinks  of 
taking  charg-e  of  a  railroad  or  a  factory  unless  he  has 
had  experience  in  those  fields.  These  occupations  are 
just  as  specialized  as  they  are  in  Europe.  De  Tocque- 
Tille  would  make  another  observation  if  he  came.  He 
would  say:  "In  the  industries  you  have  men  with  spe- 
cial training;  men  who  are  not  only  experts  in  the 
highest  sense,  but  who  have  been  carefully  educated  in 
schools  for  the  purpose ;  and,  in  fact,  there  is  no  country 
where  there  are  better  schools  for  special  training  than 
here,  law  schools,  medical  schools,  schools  for  engi- 
neers; but  while  you  are  doing  that  in  your  industrial 
life,  you  are  not  doing  it  in  your  government.  You 
are  not  using  experts  in  the  public  service  to  the  same 
extent  as  every  other  civilized  people  in  the  vforld.     He 


THE  NEED  FOR  EXPERTS  39 

would  go  one  step  further.  He  would  observe — and  it 
is  a  common  saying  in  the  United  States — that  of  all  the 
kinds  of  government  in  this  country  the  least  successful 
has  been  the  government  of  great  cities.  He  would  also 
observe  that  it  is  in  those  very  cities  that  we  use  the 
expert  the  least;  and,  perhaps,  being  de  Tocqueville,  he 
would  see  some  connection  between  those  facts. 

The  Expert  in  Public  and  Private  Affairs. — What 
do  we  mean  by  an  "expert"?  I  think  we  can  define  an 
expert  simply  enough.  An  expert  is  a  man  whoJby_hi.s_ 
knowledge  and  experience  in  any  particular  subject  is_ 
better  qualified  _tp_jleal_jmth  that  s„^^^  than  people 
who  have  not  had  such  knowledge  or  experience.  You 
will  notice  I  am  specially  making  the  definition  very- 
broad,  and  I  am  not  confining  it  to  those  things  which 
we  commonly  consider  the  subject  of  expert  knowledge. 
We  all  know  there  are  certain  classes  of  experts  which 
we  have  long  respected.  We  do  not  want  men  ap- 
pointed as  judges  who  ar-e  not  lawyers ;  nor  do  we  want 
in  public  hospitals  men  who  are  not  physicians.  Those 
are  the  two  oldest  professions  that  we  know;  but  there 
are  new  professions  constantly  developing.  To-day  we 
recognize  that  we  should  not  employ  an  inexperienced 
man  to  build  a  bridge.  We  require  an  engineer.  We 
know  that  he  must  calculate  the  stresses  and  strains  on 
every  piece  of  steel  in  that  bridge  or  the  bridge  will  not 
stand.  But  there  are  many  other  things  that  only  the 
expert  can  do  well.  To-day  we  never  think  of  putting 
a  man  in  charge  of  a  railroad  who  has  not  been  trained 
in  railroad  work.  Take  banking — take  manufacturing 
of  any  kind — take  anything  that  you  please  in  the  in- 
dustrial world.  We  put  an  expert  in  charge  of  it. 
What  do  we  do  in  our  cities?    In  most  cities  any  man 


40         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

may  be  superintendent  of  streets.  Mr,  Eshleman  has 
told  us  that  the  city  fathers  should  be  as  harmless  as 
doves  and  as  wise  as  serpents.  We  shall  all  agree  that 
the  history  of  our  city  governments  has  not  been  one 
of  extreme  harmlessness  or  wisdom;  and  it  is  the  wis- 
dom of  the  serpent  that  I  want  to  discuss. 

f""  The  Democratic  Fear  of  the  Expert. — Granted  that 
.  we  use  experts  everywhere  else,  why_  do  we  not  use 
them  in  our  governrnent  to  the  extent  that  we  might? 
^  For  a  very  simple  reason.     We  are  afraid^f  them^   We 
\  are  afraid  that  if  the  expert  is  put  in  charge,  the  people 
will  lose  control  over  him.     We  have  always  been  afraid 
:  of  the  expert;  and  it  is  worth  while  sometimes  to  recall 
~  the  fact,  well  known  to  every  student  of  history,  that 
democracies    until   this    last    one    hundred    years    have 
always  been  short-lived  institutions.     I  believe  that  this 
is  because  democraciesJiave  never  known  how  to  usje 
'  those  expert  qualities  which  ar-e  necessary  for  efficiency.^ 
Democracies  may  be  horf^^t,  ^l^^v  ^^y  ^^  ^QiJi^,J];llLJJ2f:y_ 
cannot  be  efficient  without  experts;   and  without  effi- 
I  ciency,  nothing  in  thisw^orld^canjendure. — 

I  The  Need  for  Administrative  Experts. — The  kind  of 
lexpert  that  we  need  in  a  city  is  not  merely  the  expert 
lawyer  as  a  corporation  counsel;  it  is  not  merely  the 
expert  physician  as  the  health  officer;  not  even  the  ex- 
pert engineer  as  the  builder  of  roads  and  bridges;  but 
also  the  prpprt  ndm.inist.ratnr.  It  is  the  man  who  knows 
how  a  great  administrative  body  must  be  handled,  who 

■  knows  how  to  deal  with  the  vast  amount  of  business  to 
be  transacted ;  for  ttii^^annot  b^  done  by  anybody..:^© 

^appens  to  get  the  votes.  It  must  be  done  by  an  expert. 
The  administration  of  a  large  city  is  one  of  the  most 


THE  NEED  FOR  EXPERTS  41 

complicated  kinds  of  business  which  this  country  has  to 
itianage:  TT^requires  a  knowledge  of  administrative 
machinery.  It  needs  a  man  who  knows  how  to  organize 
bodies  of  men  so  that  their  work  shall  run  smoothly, 
efficiently  and  economically. 

English  Experience. — How  is  it  done  in  other 
places?  I  will  not  refer  to  the  continent  of  Europe, 
because  they  are  in  the  habit  of  using  bureaucratic 
organizations.  I  will  take  England,  which  is  just  as 
much  a  democracy  as  our  country,  except  that  the  sym- 
bol of  the  state  is  a  crown  rather  than  a  flag. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  go  about  the  English  boroughs, 
and  see  how  they  are  managed.  Everywhere  you  find  a 
series  of  shams.  The  English  government  is  full  of 
shams.  Nobody  does  quite  the  work  he  is  supposed  to 
do.  For  instance,  the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer  is 
not  a  chancellor  and  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  ex- 
chequer. There  is  a  very  good  illustration  of  such  a 
sham  in  the  trial  at  Ipswich  in  "Pickwick."  When  Mr. 
Pickwick  is  brought  before  Judge  Nupkins  and  asks 
why  he  was  brought  there,  Judge  Nupkins  whispers  to 
his  clerk,  *'Must  I  tell  him?" 

"I  think  you  had  better,  sir,"  whispers  the  clerk. 

"An  information  has  been  sworn  before  us,"  said 
the  magistrate,  "that  it  is  apprehended  you  are  going  to 
fight  a  duel,  and  that  the  other  man  Tupman  is  your 
aider  and  abetter  in  it.     Therefore — eh,   Mr.  Jinks?" 

"Certainly,  sir." 

"Therefore  I  call  upon  you  both  to — I  think  that's  the 
course,  Mr.  Jinks." 

"Certainly,  sir." 

"To — do — what,  Mr.  Jinks?"  said  the  magistrate  pet- 
tishly. 


42         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

"To  find  bail,  sir." 

"Yes.  Therefore  I  call  upon  you  both — as  I  was 
about  to  say  when  I  was  interrupted  by  my  clerk, — to  find 
bail." 

That  is  hardly  an  exaggeration.  It  is  what  hap- 
pens every  day  in  England.  Men  are  constantly  being 
guided  by  experts,  and  purporting  to  do  the  thing  them- 
selves as  Judge  Nupkins  did.  He  did  not  think  that  he 
really  was  interrupted  by  the  clerk;  he  thought  it  was 
part  of  the  clerk's  business  to  tell  him  what  to  do.  That 
isjone  of .the_ commonest,  the  most  essential,  features  of 
English  local  governments  The  justice  of  the  peace  is 
a  country  gentleman,  and  employs  a  clerk  who  knows 
the  law.  I  remember  a  case  of  a  justice  of  the  peace 
who  was  in  the  habit  of  asking  the  clerk  whether  the 
sentence  ought  to  be  three  months  or  six  months.  To 
softie  extent  that  principle  runs,  through  the  whole  ad- 
ministration of  the  English  government.  The  English 
city  is  nominally  governed  by  a  borough  council,  com- 
posed partly  of  aldermen,  and  partly  of  councilors,  the 
aldermen  being  elected  for  a  longer  term.  But  how  is 
the  government  really  carried  on?  Matters  that  are  to 
come  before  the  council  are  first  considered  by  a  com- 
mittee. Behind  the  council,  behind  the  committee,  stands 
the  expert.  The  day  before  the  committee  meets,  the 
expert  goes  with  its  chairman  over  the  work  to  be  done, 
and  the  chairman  generally  follows  his  advice.  A  good 
chairman  is  and  ought  to  be  very  much  influenced  by  the 
opinion  of  the  expert  permanent  official.  After  the  con- 
ference the  chairman  practically  puts  through  the 
committee  matters  which  he  and  the  expert  have  agreed 
-upon  the  day  before.  The  work  is  mainly  done  at  the 
head  of  the  table.  I  remember  asking  a  vigorous  expert 
what  would  happen  if  the  committee  insisted  on  doing 


THE  NEED  FOR  EXPERTS  43 

something  that  he  did  not  approve.  He  said  he  should 
tell  them  that  he  could  not  take  the  responsibility  for  it ; 
that  they  must  pass  a  vote  ordering  it  and  put  it  on 
record.  He  said  they  would  never  assume  the  responsi- 
bility in  such  a  case.  They  are  not  Americans,  they 
are  English.  "    ^^^~~~'~ 

The  Mainspring  of  Administration. — ^Wherein  lies 
the  power  of  the  expert?  You  do  not  see  him;  you 
know  nothing  about  him.  The  expert  attends  the  meet- 
ings of  the  committee,  not,  as  a  rule,  those  of  the  council. 
You  do  not  see  him  because  it  is  understood  that  the 
expert  is  not  to  speak  in  public  except  at  meetings  of 
a  technical  society,  such  as  a  meeting  of  engineers.  He 
*.  neveF  appears  before  the  public,*  he  never  takes  public 
xredit,  or  blame.  The  members  of  the  council  take  the 
!  credit  and  blame.  The  experts  stand  behind  them  and 
j carry  on  the  work  of  the  city,  subject  to  the  control  of 
;the  council.  They  are,  as  a  rule,  the  mainspring  of  the 
^administration  and  the  council  is  the  balance  wheel.  I 
remember  very  well  in  Glasgow,  many  years  ago,  one  of 
the  officials  telling  me  that  he  did  not  think  the  city 
would  suffer  if  the  council  never  met  again — meaning 
that  the  town  was  managed  by  the  experts.  I  went  to 
see  two  members  of  the  borough  council — one  of  them 
was  a  man  of  business  in  a  small  way,  and  of  limited 
capacity.  In  talking  to  him  I  said  something  about  the 
experts,  to  which  he  replied  that  they  would  be  sorry  to 
be  in  the  hands  of  their  experts.  He  was,  although  he 
did  not  know  it.  The  other,  a  man  who  was  of  much 
larger  mold,  remarked  that  the  quality  of  their  govern- 
ment really  depended  upon  the  excellence  of  their  expert 
officials ;  and  it  obviously  did. 


44         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

The  Control  of  the  Expert. — But  you  must  control 
:the  ex2ert^  I  am  one^  of  those  who  believelSat  thejbggt 
results  in  every  undertaking  ran  hf  ^r^ng^t  nhout  ^n]y 
by  a  comFination  of  the  expert  and  the  layman.  I  do 
"nofcare  wEat  subject  you  are  dealing  with,  if  you  do  not 
jhave  an  expert  on  the  one  side,  and  a  board  representing 
the  public  on  the  other,  the  management  is  not  likely  to 
be  permanently  satisfactory.  A  railroad  company,  for 
example,  must  have  a  railroad  man  as  president,  and  a 
board  of  directors  which  keeps  him  in  touch  with  the 
public.  That  principle  is  applicable  everywhere  in  in- 
dustrial companies,  in  charitable  or  educational  institu- 
tions, and  in  public  affairs.  .^ 

Now,  what  are  the  dangers  to  be  encountered  ?  In  the 
first  place  how  about  "corruption  ?  Is  a  body  of  experts 
liable  to  be  corrupt?  Some  people  fear  that  permanent 
officials  might  steal.  Experience  in  popular  governments 
does  not  seem  to  justify  that  fear.  If  you  will  observe 
the  industrial  companies  and  see  where  improper  things 
are  done,  where  money  gets  into  people's  pockets  when 
it  ought  not  to,  I  think  you  will  find  that  the  grosser 
frauds  are  perpetrated  by  the  directors  rather  than  by 
the  experts  under  them;  and  for  a  very  simple  reason, 
the  expert's  whole  career  in  life  depends  upon  his  reputa- 
tion in  office.  That  is  true,  for  instance,  in  the  English 
t5t)roughs.  I  never  heard  of  a  case,  I  think,  of  an  expert 
in  an  English  borough  who  stole,  and  I  have  heard  cases 
of  members  of  the  council  who  cheated  the  city.  One 
of  the  borough  clerks  in  England  told  me  after  he  had 
ceased  to  occupy  the  position  that  during  the  last  few 
years  of  his  service  he  was  at  the  head  of  a .  body  of 
officials  in  the  town  who  were  trying  to  prevent  the 
council  from  running  away  with  the  funds.  If  any 
official  is  caught  in  corruption,  his  career  in  all  possible 


THE  NEED  FOR  EXPERTS  45 

directions  is  ruined  forever.  But  if  a  member  of  the. 
council  is  caught  doing  something  that  does  shut  him  up 
in  jail,  his  life  is  not  necessarily  wrecked.  Moreover^ 
'fny  experience  is  that  membership  in  an  expert  profession 
HMsli  Certain  sifadymg  influence  based  tipon  the  general 
opinion  of  the  profession  itself.  It  is  a  curious  fact  but 
yowwitt  Und  if^generally  true. 

So  much  for  corruption.  How  about  the  question  of 
direction  of  policy?  Can  you  exert  in  that  a  sufficient 
control  of  the  experts?  If  a  young  man  should  say  to 
you  that  he  would  like  to  learn  to  drive  an  automobile, 
but  he  was  afraid  it  would  run  away  with  him,  you 
would  think  he  was  not  competent  to  use  that  kind,  or 
any  kind,  of  machinery.  If  he  is  afraid  that  he  cannot 
control  an  automobile  he  had  better  walk.  So,  if  our 
people  cannot  control  experts,  they  are  not  fit  for  self- 
government  on  the  modern  scale.  I  believe  there  would 
be  really  no  serious  difficulty_j^n  controll^  experts  and 
keeping  them  in  check,  keeping  them  in  touch  with  the 
people ;  andT r~sEouidlike  to  give  you  one  example  where 
the  use  of  experts  has  been  very  effective. 

An  Example — The  City  Superintendent  of  Schools. 

— Twenty  years  ago  the  power  of  the  superintendents  of 
schools  was  as  a  rule  extremely  small.  I  remember  it  was 
said  at  that  time  that  the  only  function  of  the  superin- 
tendent of  schools  in  Boston  was  to  write  an  annual  re- 
port. Within  the  last  20  years  the  position  of  superin- 
tendents of  schools  has  changed  very  much.  It  has  be- 
come a  profession,  in  which  a  man  is  sometimes  employed 
who  is  not  an  inhabitant  of  the  city,  who  has  been  super- 
intendent of  schools  in  some  other  town.  The  feeling 
against  that  is  rapidly  diminishing.  The  influence  of  the 
superintendent    as    an    expert   has   become    very   much 


46         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

greater.  Instead  of  the  members  of  the  school  board 
trying  to  select  teachers  and  manage  the  schools  directly, 
they  employ  a  superintendent  who  has  had  years  of 
experience,  has  expert  knowledge,  and  then  back  him 
up ;  keeping  him,  however,  in  touch  with  public  opinion, 
with  the  result  that  the  relation  between  the  schools  and 
the  people  is  much  better,  much  closer  than  it  was  twenty 
years  ago. 

The  problem  of  vocational  education,  which  was  then 
in  its  infancy,  has  now  become  extremely  prominent. 
The  school  authorities  are  trying  much  hard-er  than  ever 
before  to  find  out  the  public  needs  and  supply  them. 
While  the  experts  have  more  authority,  the  service  ren- 
dered by  the  schools  and  their  attitude  toward  the  public 
have  very  distinctly  improved.  The  same  thing  is  true 
in  England.  Twenty  years  ago  the  experts  in  education 
there  had  very  little  power.  Since  the  Education  Act 
of  1902  their  power  increased  very  much.  There  has 
certainly  been  no  loss  of  control  over  experts  in  popular 
education. 

Do  not  understand  me  for  one  moment  to  suggest  that 
the  use  of  experts  is  the  only  thing  needed  in  municipal 
government,  but  it  is  a  very  important  thing  and  the  one 
that  has  hitherto  received  the  least  attention,  because  it 
conflicts  with  a  popular  prejudice  which  is  not  well 
founded.  If  a  democracy  is  capable  of  being  the  best 
and  highest  form  of  government,  that  which  provides  its 
citizens  with  the  greatest  amount  of  happiness,  let  us  not 
forget  also  that  it  is  the  most  difficult  form  of  govern- 
ment to  conduct.  In  other  forms  of  government  a  few 
minds  must  work  together;  but  here  a  vast  number  of 
minds  must  act  in  concert.  Instead  of  educating  a 
comparatively  small  number  of  men,  you  must  educate 
all  the  people  in  public  things.     Democracy  more  than 


THE  NEED  FOR  EXPERTS  47 

any  other  form  of  government  needs  the  very  best  instru- 
ments which  can  be  used.  What  should  we  say  of  our 
country  if  it  refused  to  use  for  pubHc  work  modern 
machinery  and  inventions?  Democracy  needs  the  best 
^Mackmery  that  can  be  found]  the  best  tools  thai  can'be 
discovered;  and  the  best  tool  that  the  world  has  ever  yet 
"produced  is  a  highly  trained  human  brain. 


CHAPTER  V 
WHY   DO   MEN   LEAVE   THE   PUBLIC   SERVICE? 

^T^O  Thomas  Jefiferson,  democrat,  is  generally  ascribed 
-*-  the  epigram  that  of  public  office-holders  '"few  die 
and  none  resign."  This  is  hardly  correct  nowadays,  as 
we  find  that  while  but  few  die,  a  great  many  do  resign. 
Moreover  a  great  number  are  dismissed  from  the  public 
services.  Some,  too,  of  course,  go  out  of  office  because 
their  terms  expire.  Leaving  out  of  consideration  for 
the  present  the  last  group,  and  those  who  relinquish 
public  jobs  only  when  they  die,  saying  "Kismet,"  we 
have  left  those  that  resign  and  those  that  are  "fired." 
Both  are  largely  preventable  causes  for  separation  and 
present  the  same  problem — and  that  a  serious  one — of 
conservation. 

Can  We  Save  Training  in  Government  for  Govern- 
ment Use? — To  determine  the  relation  of  separations 
from  the  service  due  to  resignations  and  dismissals  to 
the  total  number  of  separations,  an  inquiry  was  recently 
addressed  to  a  number  of  persons  having  access  to 
authentic  records.  These  included  carefully  selected 
civil  service  officials,  prominent  administrators  and  civic 
workers  spread  all  over  the  country.  A  tabulation  of 
their  figures  gives  the  following  average  percentages : 

48 


WHY  DO  MEN  LEAVE  PUBLIC  SERVICE?   49 
Separations  from  Public  Service 

Death 7.4% 

Expiration  of  term 1.1% 

Dismissal     24.5% 

Resignation    67.  %  ( 

Of  course  many  of  those  dismissed  and  of  those  that 
resigned  are  senile  or  otherwise  unfitted  for  service,  but 
even  allow^ing  a  wide  margin  for  error,  the  importance 
of  the  probable  "waste  element"  is  apparent.  Since 
government  is  becoming  increasingly  complicated  and 
since  there  is  a  growing  recognition  of  the  need  of  special 
training  for  government  service,  it  behooves  us  to  turn 
our  attention  to  the  problem  of  savmg  such  training  as 
government  service  affords,  for  government  use. 

For  the  purposes  of  the  present  brief  discussion  no 
consideration  will  be  given  to  that  important  part  of  our 
public  service — the  school  teachers,  although  very  similar 
conditions  and  problems  are  present  in  their  case.  Nor 
is  there  space  here  to  dwell  on  an  elaborate  program  of 
steps  necessary  to  ameliorate  the  present  situation. 
Numerous  programs  are  being  worked  out  and  the 
problems  are  in  able  hands  for  solution.  We  shall  here 
merely  attempt  to  interpret  the  facts  as  they  are,  and 
try  to  cite  a  few  illuminating  examples. 

The  conclusion  is  unavoidable  that  large  numbers  of 
men  and  women  are  continually  leaving  the  public 
service,  and  it  requires  but  little  inquiry  to  establish 
that  such  a  situation  is  bad.  The  experience  of  private, 
enterprises  has  been  that  a  too  frequent  "turnover"  of 
personnel  is  costly  in  every  way.  Those  responsible  for 
large  and  small  establishments,  that  have  sufficient  vision 
to  understand  the  matter,  are  constantly  striving  to  cor- 
rect such  defects  in  their  organizations  as  tend  to  in- 


so         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

crease  the  ^'turnover"  and  are  endeavoring  to  introduce 
conditions  that  will  make  employment  with  them  attrac- 
tive. 

In  public  service  the  loss  of  experienced  workers,  the 
costly  processes  of  training  new  ones,  and  the  general 
impairment  of  the  official  machinery  by  a  high  turnover 
is  no  less  undesirable,  and  from  the  point  of  view  of 
society  is,  of  course,  highly  more  important. 

The  losses  occasioned  by  dismissal  for  partisan  or 
other  unjustifiable  reasons  will  eventually  be  checked  by 
the  wider  extension  of  civil  service  and  more  genuine 
application  of  its  principles.  The  other  side  of  the 
picture — the  voluntary  withdrawals — presents  complica- 
tions involving  social  and  economic  factors.  Civil  service 
reform,  as  at  present  developed,  is  but  partially  concerned 
with  this  side  of  the  situation,  and  "conservationists"  are 
fully  occupied  with  conserving  resources  other  than  per- 
sonal. 

The  Obstacles  to  a  Career  in  the  Public  Service.^ 

Much  has  been  written  on  the  whys  and  wherefores  of  the 
undesirability  of  making  public  service  a  life  career  and 
they  resolve  themselves  principally  down  to  these : 

Uncertainty  of  tenure 

Political  atmosphere 

Poor  compensation  as  compared  with  private  enterprise 

Poor  prospects  for  advancement 
Some  have  added  "uninteresting  work"  to  the  above, 
but  careful  observation  and  wide  inquiry  have  resulted 
in  the  conviction  that  job  for  job,  man  for  man,  the 
public  service  is  at  least  as  interesting  as  business  or 
industry.  It  has  been  said,  too,  that  fame  (admittedly 
a  desideratum)  is  denied  the  public  servant,  but  this  is 
patently  untrue  for  the  higher  positions,  at  least,  and  if 


WHY  DO  MEN  LEAVE  PUBLIC  SERVICE?    51 

the  opportunities  for  advancement  in  public  service  were 
equal  to  those  in  private  life,  certainly  the  potentially 
famous  would  fare  better  in  an  official  career. 

The  uncertainty  of  tenure  as  a  factor  in  making 
public  service  unattractive  is  undoubtedly  doomed  to 
eradication.  So  also  is  the  "political  atmosphere"  by 
which  is  meant  the  requirement  that  the  employee  do 
political  work — "pulling  doorbells,"  and  engaging  in 
kindred  avocations.  Under  it  is  included  also  that  attitude 
of  favoritism  by  those  in  power  to  "the  faithful"  in  a 
partisan  sense,  often  at  the  expense  of  those  faithful  to 
their  real  duties.  It  may  not  be  amiss  here  to  include 
also  the  still  all  too  frequent  and  characteristic  "tone"  of 
some  of  our  public  offices — the  loafing,  the  dense  tobacco- 
smoke,  the  spitting,  the  frivolity,  the  gossip — that  to 
the  serious  worker  must  be  indeed  a  strong  incentive  to 
find  more  inspiring  environment.  ^' 

Every  other  consideration  pales  into  insignificance, 
however,  beside  the  two  primary  reasons  for  resignations 
from  public  service.  These  reasons — relatively  poor 
pay,  and  lack  of  promotional  opportunity — are  primarily 
economic  and  they  go  straight  to  the  heart  of  our 
question. 

Adequate  Compensation  for  Public  Service. — We 
were  brought  up  on  the  cynicisms  about  job  hunters,  and 
political  sinecures,  and  all  the  rest  of  it,  so  that  we  are 
habitually  inclined  to  take  the  attitude  that  it  is  easy  to 
get  numerous  takers  for  every  public  job  that  is  offered. 
In  assuming  that  attitude,  we  are  prone  to  forget  the 
economic  phenomena  that  are  taking  place  around  us 
and  that  affect  our  question  profoundly.  We  see  on  the 
one  hand  a  tendency  of  rising — nay,  soaring — living  costs, 
of  a  constant  and  rapid  advance  in  prices  of  all  com- 


52         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

modities  and  in  prices  of  labor  as  well.  In  contradistinc- 
tion to  this  we  find  public  salaries  virtually  static.  This 
rapidly  widening  gap  between  living  costs  and  salaries 
has  been  growing  for  some  time,  but  the  past  year  has 
seen  an  acceleration  that  will  unquestionably  bring  the 
issue  to  a  head  very  shortly.  In  Philadelphia,  salaries 
in  the  rank  and  file  positions  have  been  notoriously  low ; 
in  many  cases  there  has  been  no  change  since  the  70's. 
The  inertia  and  indifference  of  councils  in  this  vital 
matter  have  resulted  in  an  acute  situation.  Firemen  and 
numerous  other  groups  of  underpaid  municipal  employees 
are  now  demanding  a  flat  20  percent  salary  increase,  and 
there  is  not  the  slightest  question  that  in  the  present  labor 
market  the  better  ones  among  the  men  could  earn  much 
more  outside  the  city's  employ. 

Other  cities,  the  states,  and  the  national  government 
are  confronted  with  the  same  issue  in  the  present  period 
of  high  wages,  costly  living  and  boom,  but  even  in  less 
"prosperous"  times  many  of  the  abler,  the  more  desir- 
able element  among  our  public  servants  tend  to  go  into 
private  employment.  A  number  of  interesting  and  il- 
lustrative cases  have  come  to  the  writer's  notice  of  men 
in  the  various  public  services  who  have  gone  out  into 
successful  private  careers.  Usually  better  financial 
opportunities  formed  the  primary  motive  for  the  change. 
If  space  and  time  permitted,  an  exhaustive  account  of 
these  cases  would  be  interesting,  but  the  few  selected 
will  give  point  to  the    story. 

A  Few  Illustrations. — One  of  the  most  conspicuous 
cases,  of  course,  of  a  young  man  who  got  his  "start"  in 
public  service  and  who  later  utilized  the  training  and 
prestige  there  acquired  in  a  business  career,  is  George  B. 
Cortelyou,  Secretary  to  two  Presidents,  our  first  Secre- 


WHY  DO  MEN  LEAVE  PUBLIC  SERVICE?    53 

tary  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  then  Postmaster  General, 
then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  now  president  of 
the  ConsoHdated  Gas  Company  of  New  York.  And 
there  is  the  equally  well-known  case  of  President  Van- 
derlip  of  the  National  City  Bank,  whose  work  in  the 
treasury  department  was  probably  the  foundation  of 
his  later  distinguished  career  in  the  financial  world.  It 
has  become  almost  a  tradition  for  secretaries  of  the 
treasury  and  comptrollers  of  the  currency  to  become 
bank  presidents  or  captains  of  industry  when  their  terms 
expire,  so  a  mere  recital  of  names  is  unnecessary. 

Coming  down  the  line  from  the  more  conspicuous 
places  in  the  federal  service,  numerous  interesting  cases 
are  observed.  In  the  Bureau  of  Mines,  Department  of 
the  Interior,  where  the  training  of  employees  seems  to 
be  unusually  valuable,  it  is  reported  that  employees  find 
little  difficulty  in  getting  business  or  professional  open- 
ings outside,  and  a  number  of  its  former  employees  have 
met  with  remarkable  success  in  outside  activities.  So 
also  in  the  Bureau  of  Standards,  the  Reclamation  Ser- 
vice, the  Census  Bureau,  and  other  government  offices. 

In  the  state  governments  we  find  conspicuous  instances 
of  the  same  phenomenon.  In  Wisconsin,  we  are  told 
of  a  railroad  commissioner  receiving  $5,000  salary  and 
resigning  to  accept  a  position  paying  twice  as  much,  or 
more,  with  a  large  insurance  company.  Only  recently, 
Commissioners  Roemer  and  Erickson  of  the  same  state 
went  into  private  practice  as  consulting  engineers.  In 
Illinois  we  come  across  a  number  of  interesting  cases; 
two  of  these  are  typical  and  show  the  general  tendency. 
Mr.  T.  R.  Agg,  formerly  assistant  chief  engineer  of  the 
state  highway  department,  is  now  in  business  at  Ames, 
Iowa,  as  a  highway  expert.  Mr.  George  Graham  left 
his  position  as  actuary  in  the  Illinois  insurance  depart- 


54         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

ment  and  is  now  employed  in  a  similar  capacity  by  a  life 
insurance  company. 

Another  type  of  position,  but  one  exhibiting  this 
same  proclivity  of  competent  public  servants  is  shown 
in  the  case  of  Mr.  George  C.  Signor,  until  recently 
superintendent  of  the  state  institution  for  the  feeble- 
minded, at  Spring  City,  Pa.  This  official's  record  at- 
tracted attention  in  private  institutional  circles,  and  he 
now  is  superintendent  of  the  Hershey  industrial  Farm, 
at  twice  the  state's  salary. 

Numerous  other  illustrations,  from  many  states, 
might  be  cited  as  illustrations,  but  it  is  in  the  cities  that 
this  problem  of  conservation  of  ability  and  training  in 
the  public  service  looms  largest.  Every  one  interested 
in  civic  work  can  recall  numerous  instances  in  his  own 
experience,  especially  in  the  cases  of  technical  men,  of 
municipal  employees  going  into  private  business  or  prac- 
tice and  there  utilizing  the  city's  professional  schooling. 
A  typical  case  is  that  of  Dr.  C.  E.  Ford,  who  for  six 
years  held  the  position  of  health  officer  and  commissioner 
of  health  of  Cleveland,  at  a  salary  of  $3,500.  Early 
this  year  Dr.  Ford  resigned  from  the  service  of  the 
city  of  Cleveland,  to  accept  a  position  with  a  large 
chemical  company  at  $7,500  per  annum  and  expenses. 
While  the  Doctor  was  well  equipped  for  his  work  before 
entering  his  duties  as  health  officer,  his  six  years'  experi- 
ence in  that  capacity  gave  him  unusual  preparation  for 
his  present  duties,  which  are  the  supervision  of  the 
health  and  welfare  activities  of  his  company. 
'"T'hen  there  is  Henry  Bruere  who  took  the  position  of 
Chamberlain  of  New  York  City  by  appointment  of 
Mayor  Mitchel,  and  who  resigned  when  half  the  mayor's 
term  was  up  to  ally  himself  with  large  commercial  enter- 
prise.    While  it  is  true  that  Mr.  Bruere  brought  to  the 


WHY  DO  MEN  LEAVE  PUBLIC  SERVICE?    55 

Municipal  Building  more  expert  equipment,  no  doubt,  . 
than  had  ever  been  brought  there  before,  yet  he  took  -^ 
away  added  prestige  and  invaluable  experience. 

The  Philadelphia  papers  a  few  days  ago  announced 
the  resignation  of  Frank  E.  Northime,  sometime  assistant 
director  of  public  works  and  one  of  Director  Cooke's 
widely  advertised  "cracker jacks."  In  leaving  Philadel- 
phia's service  for  the  manufacturing  game,  Mr. 
Northime  gave  newspaper  interviews  in  which  virtually 
all  four  of  the  reasons  given  a  page  or  two  back  were 
expressed  or  implied  as  his  grounds  for  leaving  the 
service  of  the  people. 

The  case  of  J.  L.  Jacobs  of  Chicago,  formerly  effi- 
ciency expert  of  the  civil  service  Commission  of  that 
city,  is  widely  known.  Other  cities  great  and  small 
have  had  prominent  cases  like  the  foregoing,  and  any 
number  of  less  conspicuous  (but  no  less  important)  in- 
stances, such  as  those  cited  by  City  Manager  Waite  of 
Dayton.  Mr.  Waite  points  out  that  the  chief  book- 
keeper of  Dayton's  finance  department,  and  one  of  his 
assistants  recently  resigned  to  become  auditor  and  pay- 
master respectively  of  one  of  Dayton's  large  industrial 
corporations.  So,  too,  in  the  urban  counties — Los 
Angeles  County  (Calif.)  recently  lost  the  services  of  its 
chief  appraiser,  an  expert  on  building  valuations,  who 
went  to  a  private  company  in  whose  service  his  expert 
knowledge  and  experience  are  rich  assets. 

Some  Further  Observations. — And  so  on  indefi- 
nitely, all  over  the  country — with  this  qualification: 
Where  standards  of  efficiency  have  been  high,  where  a 
reputation  for  skill  and  capacity  has  been  built  up  by  the 
particular  public  service,  private  business  has  eagerly 
sought  to  divert  to  its  own  use  the  trained  employees. 


56         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

but  where  lax  methods,  incompetence,  corruption,  have 
characterized  the  state,  the  city,  the  department,  or  the 
bureau,  the  individual  public  employee,  however  com- 
petent and  experienced  personally,  has  been  handicapped 
by  prejudice  whenever  he  sought  a  job  outside  the  pub- 
lic's payroll.  That  was  the  old  order — ^but  the  old  order 
changeth. 

One  of  the  prominent  characteristics  of  the  city-man- 
ager plan  of  municipal  government  is  the  proviso  that 
the  manager  hold  office  during  good  behavior.  This  is 
a  new  recognition  of  an  ancient  waste — ^the  limited  term. 
True,  that  time  honored  institution  was  often  the  only 
way  of  getting  rid  of  an  incompetent  higher  official,  but 
often  it  turned  out  of  office  the  man  with  experience 
and  ability  and  checked  the  momentum,  so  to  speak,  of 
the  going  concern.  Coupled  with  that  ancient  evil,  of 
course,  was  the  wholesale  clearing  out  of  the  "ins"  in 
favor  of  the  "outs" — a  survival  of  the  country's  frontier 
life,  which,  while  still  prevalent,  is  contrary  to  the  en- 
lightened public  sentiment  of  the  day. 

The  waste  occasioned  by  expiration  of  terms  is  too 
well  known  to  need  more  than  a  mention. 

What  then  is  public  service  as  a  career  to-day?  Our 
discussion  leads  us  to  infer  that  by  many  of  our  most 
promising  governmental  employees  it  is  merely  a  train- 
ing school  for  a  better  job  in  private  life. 

Conclusion. — In  our  hunt  for  efficient  public  service, 
we  are  barking  up  the  wrong  tree  so  long  as  we  are  blind 
to  all  things  but  methods,  important  as  they  are.  Not 
only  must  we  bring  trained  men  to  the  service,  but  we 
must  also  keep  in  the  service  those  whom  we  have 
trained. 


VvCt 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE   NEW  VIEW  OF  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT 

WHEN  the  original  Municipal  Program  committee 
of  the  National  Municipal  League  was  consider- 
ing the  question  of  "a  model  charter,"  it  had  in  mind  the 
necessity  for  placing  the  affairs  of  the  city  in  the  hands 
of  trained  experts;  but  at  that  time  it  did  not  seem  to 
be  within  the  bounds  of  possibility  that  the  time  would 
come,  at  least  within  the  present  generation,  when  public 
sentiment  would  be  so  far  developed  as  to  justify  the 
recommendation  that  the  council  or  legislative  body 
should  be  assigned  the  duty  of  selecting  the  chief  ad- 
ministrator on  the  basis  of  his  expertness.  So  it  recom- 
mended the  plan  of  a  small  council  elected  at  large  (to 
eliminate  the  unquestioned  evils  arising  from  the  choice 
of  legislators  from  small  arbitrarily  chosen  districts), 
with  a  responsible  mayor  elected  by  the  people.  Public 
opinion  in  municipal  affairs  since  1900,  however,  has 
developed  with  great  rapidity,  and  along  eminently  satis- 
factory lines,  so  that  it  was  possible  to  say  at  the  Dayton 
meeting  of  the  National  Municipal  League  in  Novem- 
ber, 191 5,  that  there  were  then  76  communities  in  the 
country  having  the  city — or  commission — manager  form, 
of  which  group  Dayton  was  the  most  important  and  most 
conspicuous  example. 

In  that  city  the  results  have  undoubtedly  been  most 
satisfactory,    judging    both    from    the    expression    of 

57 


58         EXPERTS  iN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

opinion  on  the  part  of  citizens  and  of  the  newspapers, 
and  by  the  results  of  the  primary  and  municipal  elections. 
Elsewhere  the  new  form  has  won  for  itself  a  large 
measure  of  deserved  praise.^  But,  at  the  same  time, 
we  hear  comments  which  indicate  an  erroneous  view  as 
to  the  place  which  the  system  is  to  play  in  our  municipal 
life.  Some  speak  as  if  the  form  itself  were  responsible 
for  all  the  improvement  that  has  been  accomplished; 
some  as  if  its  introduction  would,  ipso  facto,  result  in 
a  transformation  of  evil  conditions,  i  The  city  manager 
(plan  is  a  business-like  one,  and  represents  the  latest  and 
most  approved  ideas  in  the  science  of  municipal  admin- 
istration; but,  unless  accompanied  by  an  active,  or- 
ganized, vigilant  public  sentiment,  it  will  accomplish  of 
itself  very  little  more  than  the  oJder  forms. 

An  outgrowth  of  the  widespread,  popular  commission 
government  movement,  the  city  manager  idea  represents 
^all  that  is  best  in  the  commission  system  with  the  addi- 
tion of  a  carefully  chosen  expert  to  look  after  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  city's  affairs,  instead  of  three  or  five 
promiscuously  chosen.  Under  it  there  is  no  longer  any 
doubt  as  to  who  is  responsible.  There  is  no  danger  of 
inefficiency  hiding  itself  behind  a  long  list  of  elected 
officers  no  one  of  whom  has  sufficient  authority  or  power 
to  change  conditions,  no  one  of  whom  is  charged  with 
sufficient  power  to  be  really  responsible.  Now  if  any- 
thing goes  wrong  in  Dayton,  one  knows  that  the  respon- 
sibility for  it  lies  primarily  at  the  door  of  the  city  man- 
ager, and  behind  him  at  the  door  of  the  council  of  five. 

^See  article  of  Richard  S.  Childs  in  the  National  Municipal 
Review  for  July,  1915,  on  "How  the  Commission  Manager  Plan 
is  Getting  Along,"  and  also  his  article  on  the  same  subject  in 
the  October  issue,  1916,  of  the  same  publication. 


NEW  VIEW  OF  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT    59 

Law  Not  a  Substitute  for  Informed  Public  Senti- 
ment.— A  characteristic  of  the  older  conception  of 
American  city  government  was  to  place  entirely  too 
much  dependence  upon  law  and  upon  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment. Many  still  are  for  substituting  statutes  and 
constitutional  provisions  for  the  self-governing  instinct. 
The  newer  conception  involves  the  utilization  of  the 
most  effective  forms  of  government  for  the  adequate 
expression  of  a  sound  public  opinion;  and  the  idea  of 
a  city  manager  has  proved  popular  because  it  embodies 
just  this  thought. 

Naturally  there  was  widespread  comment  upon  the 
alleged  failure  of  commission  government  in  Nashville, 
Tennessee,  and  of  its  abandonment  in  Salem,  Massa- 
chusetts. 

Nashville  for  many  years  has  been  regarded  as  a 
community  almost  hopelessly  indifferent  to  its  municipal 
duties  and  obligations,  and  its  citizens  as  hopelessly  com- 
mitted to  a  narrow,  partisan  consideration  of  public  ques- 
tions. Latterly  the  question  of  prohibition  has  been 
injected  into  an  already  complicated  situation  intensify- 
ing the  difficulties.  A  commission  form  of  government 
was  given  to  the  city  a  few  years  ago  at  the  request  of 
the  then  existing  administration,  largely  as  a  sop  to  a 
rising  tide  of  discontent  in  the  community;  but  recent 
events  have  shown  conclusively  that  something  more 
than  a  change  of  form  is  needed  in  Nashville — a  change 
in  the  spirit  of  the  people  and  in  the  personnel  of  the 
men  entrusted  with  the  conduct  of  affairs.  So  the  un- 
pleasant notoriety  which  has  come  upon  the  city,  includ- 
ing the  sad  tragedy  of  the  assassination  of  the  chief 
factor  in  arousing  the  community — Harry  Stokes — while 
a  surprise  to  many,  was  really  no  surprise  to  those  who 
knew  the  community  and  knew  the  situation.     One  might 


6o         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

as  well  charge  the  murder  of  Senator  Carmack  to  the 
old  system  of  government  in  Nashville  as  to  charge  the 
breakdown  of  the  recent  administration  to  the  commis- 
sion form.  The  important  thing  to  be  borne  in  mind 
is,  that  under  the  new  commission  law  the  people  were 
able  quickly  to  detect  the  wrong-doing  and  mendacity  of 
the  administration,  and  were  able  with  equal  quickness 
to  apply  the  remedy;  and  therefore  the  commission 
emerges  from  the  Nashville  experience  justified,  rather 
than  condemned. 

No  thoughtful  advocate  of  commission  government  has 
ever  maintained  that  its  mere  existence  would  prevent 
corruption  or  maladministration;  they  have  contended 
always,  that  it  must  go  hand  in  hand  with  an  aroused 
and  intelligent  public  sentiment.  Nashville  has  been 
awakened — whether  temporarily  or  permanently,  re- 
mains yet  to  be  seen.  Being  awakened,  it  has  been 
easier  for  the  people  to  remedy  the  adverse  conditions 
under  its  present  simple,  direct,  responsible  system,  than 
under  the  preceding  one  of  futile  checks  and  balances. 

Responsibility  for  results  in  the  public  service  should 
be  placed  on  the  individual  electors  and  upon  the  offi- 
cials they  choose.  Not  long  since,  party  organizations 
generally  dictated  and  controlled  the  selection  of  nomi- 
nees for  every  office,  large  and  small,  and  all  that  the 
electors  were  called  upon  to  do,  was  to  choose  between 
the  nominees  of  the  rival  parties.  The  successful  party 
bore  the  brunt  of  the  responsibilities.  Now  that  party 
designations  have  been  so  generally  eliminated  from 
municipal  elections  (as  they  are  in  nearly  every  commis- 
sion governed  city,  and  in  all  the  city  manager  cities), 
party  responsibility  has  been  almost  entirely  destroyed 
and  the  electors  themselves  have  had  to  assume  the 
burden  of  their  own  conduct.^'' The  old  idea  of  party 


NEW  VIEW  OF  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT    6i 

government  in  city  affairs  and  of  checks  and  balances 
is  yielding  to  the  modern  conception  of  the  direct,  indi- 
vidual responsibility  of  the  elector.  / 

Galveston,  properly  regarded  as  the  home  of  the  mod- 
ern commission  idea,  suffered  another  disaster  in  191 5, 
and  its  commission  again  showed  its  trustworthiness.  In 
the  words  of  an  editorial  writer: 

Disasters  come  to  cities,  as  they  have  come  to  Galveston, 
through  natural  causes,  and  to  Nashville  because  of  incom- 
petence as  a  result,  not  of  governmental  forms,  but  of  cit- 
izenship neglect.  Often  it  takes  a  disaster  of  magnitude  to 
arouse  the  people  to  the  action  which  will  save  them.  That 
is  what  happened  at  Galveston;  and  they  made  the  business 
of  the  city  their  business,  and  they  brought  to  the  public 
service  the  best  available  men.  These  latter  did  everything 
that  was  expected  of  them,  as  men  always  do  under  the  spur 
of  a  great  popular  interest.  As  a  consequence,  the  city  was 
restored,  and  prospered,  as  any  city  always  will  when  so  of- 
ficered. 

It  has  not  needed  disaster,  however,  to  bring  home  to 
other  cities  the  need  for  a  change;  so  to-day  we  have 
512  cities  operating  under  the  commission  form  and 
others  having  a  city  manager  or  having  provided 
for  one.  There  has  been  no  falling  off,  except  in  the 
case  of  Salem,  which,  recently  having  the  opportu- 
nity to  adopt  a  new  form  of  government,  chose  to 
try  another  change,  rather  than  patiently  work  out  its 
salvation  because  its  people  still  place  their  dependence 
upon  the  law  rather  than  upon  their  own  shoulders.  No 
doubt  Salem  will  be  cited  by  those  to  whom  the  wish 
is  father  to  the  thought,  as  evidence  of  a  break-down 
of  commission  government.  It  is  simply  an  evidence, 
however,  of  the  desire  of  the  people  to  substitute  law 
for  the  self-governing  instinct. 


62         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

An  interesting  development  of  the  city  manager  move- 
ment has  been  the  increased  demand  for  experts  in 
municipal  administration,  and  the  accompanying  demand 
for  the  adequate  education  of  those  experts ;  and  gradu- 
ally, there  is  emerging  the  idea  of  a  profession  of  city 
administration.  Judging  from  the  developments  of  the 
past  fifteen  years,  one  would  seem  to  be  justified  in 
prophesying  the  early  establishment  of  this  new  pro- 
fession upon  a  strong,  firm  basis  of  public  opinion  and 
public  demand. 

^  significant  fact  in  this  connection  has  been  the  ap- 
pointment by  the  National  Municipal  League  of  a  com- 
mittee, with  President  Lowell  of  Harvard  as  its  chair- 
man, to  consider  ways  and  means  of  establishing  city 
managership  on  a  professional  basis. 

Of  the  making  of  laws  there  seems  to  be  no  end. 
Elihu  Root,  in  an  address  before  the  New  York  Con- 
stitutional Convention,  stated  that  during  a  period  of 
ten  years  there  had  been  enacted,  by  the  various  law- 
making bodies  of  the  country,  upwards  of  62,014  laws. 
One  result  of  this  has  been  to  place  dependence  on  law, 
rather  than  upon  individual  action.  Another  is,  it 
makes  us  a  nation  of  lawbreakers :  possibly  uncon- 
sciously so,  but  none  the  less  disastrously  in  the  long 
run.  A  nation  depending  on  laws  has  but  a  sorry  sup- 
port. We  cannot  expect  good  and  efficient  government 
to  follow  from  the  mere  passage  of  laws ;  and  those  who 
are  interested  in  the  redemption  of  American  cities  and 
their  establishment  on  a  high  standard  of  honesty,  in- 
tegrity, and  efficiency,  must  work  to  found  them  on  public 
spirit  and  public  institutions.  Reform,  in  the  minds  of 
many,  lies  in  the  enactment  of  their  fads  into  law  and 
imposing  them  upon  the  whole  community.  The  wise 
leader,  however,  seeks  first  to  arouse  the  people  to  a 


NEW  VIEW  OF  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT    63 

sense  of  the  importance  of  municipal  government  as  a 
factor  in  their  lives  and  the  lives  of  the  community  and 
of  their  personal  responsibility  for  it;  then  to  provide 
proper  tools  for  its  expression. 

This  desire  to  substitute  law  for  public  sentiment  and 
individual  responsibility,  has  been  particularly  notice- 
able in  the  matter  of  the  civil  service  laws.  Often  those 
interested  in  eliminating  political  and  religious  consider- 
ations from  appointment  to  office,  and  of  making  of  the 
public  service  a  real  instrument  of  public  good  and 
efficiency,  have  felt  that  the  whole  problem  was  solved 
when  satisfactory  laws  were  enacted.  We  have  only 
to  look  around  us  on  any  side  to  see  that  the  best  laws, 
in  the  hands  of  designing  men,  may  be  made  to  thwart 
every  public  sentiment  which  gave  them  birth,  unless 
that  public  sentiment  is  eternally  vigilant,  informed  and 
insistent.  Civil  service  reformers  must  be  on  their  guard 
constantly  to  see  that  the  demand  for  honest  and  effi- 
cient government  shows  no  sign  of  lessening. 

I  have  always  felt  a  very  strong  sympathy  with  theA^ 
thought  of  the  late  Carl  Schurz,  who  declared  that  he  1 
would  rather  have  the  laws  made  by  Lucifer  and  exe-  \ 
cuted  by  Gabriel,  than  made  by  Gabriel  and  executed  by  1 
Lucifer.     In  other  words,  the  first  object  of  all  organi- 
zations  like   the   National   Municipal   League   and   the 
National    Civil    Service    Reform    League    must    be    to 
create  sound,   solid,   substantial  sentiment  in   favor  of 
efficient,   democratic  government,  and  then  help  guide 
that  sentiment,  when  created,  along  sound  lines. 

For  years  the  attention  of  Americans  has  been 
directed  to  the  efficiency  of  German  cities,  and  we  have 
marveled  at  the  wonderful  achievements  of  administra- 
tion there;  but  to  date  the  lesson  has  not  been  a  per- 
suasive  one,   because   the   situations   in   Germany   and 


64         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

this  country  are  so  different.  There,  efficient  govern- 
ment  is  given  rather  as  a  gift  from  an  overlord,  than 
as  the  outworking  of  the  desires  and  aspirations  of  the 
people  themselves.  The  problem  before  us,  in  this 
country,  is  to  attain  efficiency  through  the  direct  action 
of  the  whole  electorate,  and  that  electorate  one  that  is 
being  placed  on  an  ever  broader  foundation  of  suffrage. 

Publicity. — As  part  and  parcel  of  the  development 
of  the  democratic  conception  of  municipal  government,, 
the  people  must  be  educated.  In  a  recent  letter,  a  well- 
known  citizen  of  Dayton  said  that  as  a  result  of  the 
activities  of  the  bui:eau  of  municipal  research,  and  of 
the  cooperation  accorded  them  by  the  progressive  citizens 
of  Dayton,  the  city  hall  and  its  doings  had  been  trans- 
ferred from  the  back  pages  of  the  newspapers  to  the 
front  ones.  This  is  a  pregnant  statement,  and  shows 
what  is  essentially  needed  everywhere  in  American 
cities. 

One  of  the  significant  developments  of  the  Blanken- 
berg  administration  in  Philadelphia  was  the  effectiveness 
with  which  the  department  of  public  works  has  made 
known  its  activities  and  achievements,  and  to  which  I 
have  referred  in  Chapter  II. 

Democracy  demands  publicity;  and  he  who  solves  the 
problem  of  making  plain  the  difficulties  of  municipal 
administration  and  making  clear  the  transactions  of  the 
ordinary  daily  work  of  great  city  departments,  will  have 
made  a  contribution  of  untold  value. 

Community  Cooperation — the  Means. — As  a  part  of 
this  developing  conception,  we  find  the  idea  of  coopera- 
tion is  getting  a  stronger  hold  upon  the  people.  The 
newly  organized  women's  city  club  of  Cincinnati  has 


NEW  VIEW  OF  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT    65 

declared  its  purpose  to  be:  "To  bring  together  women 
interested  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  the  city;  to  co- 
ordinate and  render  more  effective  the  organized  social 
and  civic  activities  in  which  they  are  engaged ;  to  extend 
the  knowledge  of  public  affairs;  to  aid  in  improving 
civic  conditions;  and  to  assist  in  arousing  an  increased 
sense  of  social  responsibility  for  the  safeguarding  of  the 
home,  the  maintenance  of  good  government,  and  the 
ennobling  of  that  larger  home  of  all — ^the  city." 

This  idea  of  cooperation  is  gaining  a  foothold  not  only 
among  the  citizens,  but  among  the  officials  as  I  have 
more  than  once  pointed  out,  and  to-day  important  work 
in  the  realm  of  municipal  government  is  being  accom- 
plished by  the  city  managers'  association,  state  leagues 
of  officials,  like  the  mayors'  conference  of  New  York, 
and  the  leagues  of  cities  in  California,  Iowa,  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Wisconsin,  to  mention  only  a  few  of  a  very 
considerable  number  of  such  bodies. 

These  organizations  believe  in  consultation.  John 
Mitchel  said  on  one  occasion:  *T  believe  it  is  better  to 
talk  for  a  week  than  to  strike  for  a  year."  Consulta- 
tion is  an  essential  to  effective  work  and  to  real  advance. 
When  we  find  the  officials  of  a  community  coming  to- 
gether for  consultation  and  advice;  and  the  citizens  get- 
ting together  for  the  same  purpose ;  and  then  the  citizens 
and  officials  coming  together  for  joint  conference,  then 
a  new  element  of  great  promise  has  been  introduced. 
The  old  conception  of  municipal  reform  was  that  every 
non-office  holder  was  the  enemy  of  every  office  holder. 
So-called  reform  meetings  were  characterized  by  the 
vituperation  of  those  who  were  in  office;  the  slogan  of 
campaigns  was,  "Turn  the  rascals  out!" — the  rascals 
always  being  those  in  office  who  were  opposed  to  us. 
This  cry  is  seldom  heard  now.     The  newer  idea  repre- 


^         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

sented  by  the  bureau  of  municipal  research  is  to  take 
information  of  wrong-doing  directly  to  those  responsible 
and  who  are  in  a  position  to  improve  them,  with  the 
hope  that  the  remedy  will  be  applied  quickly  and  directly, 
and  with  the  minimum  of  publicity.^  If  those  responsi- 
ble are  unwilling  to  accept  such  cooperation,  then  the 
bright  sunlight  of  publicity  must  be  turned  on  the  situa- 
tion, in  order  that  it  may  be  cleansed  and  purified.  The 
remarkable  success  attending  the  work  of  the  bureaus  of 
municipal  research  of  the  various  communities  of  this 
country,  has  been  due  largely  to  the  prosecution  of  this 
policy. 

Remarks  on  Publicity  and  Public  Sentiment. — ^The 

1  new  conception  involves  the  belief  that  "My  fellow-citi- 
j  zen  is  my  neighbor" ;  that  we  must  think  qommunallyj' 
Alexander  Hamilton  said:  "Let  us  think  contineritally." 
Now,  we  have  come  to  do  that  io  a  marked  degree ;  but 
we  must  also  think  communally.  We  must  think  of  the 
community  interests  and  the  community  life;  and  these 
various  organizations,  these  various  efforts  at  cooperation, 
these  various  conferences  to  which  I  have  referred,  all 
tend  to  make  the  people  think  communally  and  to  pro- 
mote a  sound  community  life. 

In  my  annual  reviews  I  have  often  spoken  of  the 
vital  relation  existing  between  the  business  organiza- 
tions and  the  welfare  of  the  community.  No  small  part 
of  the  success  of  the  city  manager  form  in  Dayton  has 
been  due  to  the  initiative  and  unstinted  cooperation  of 
the  business  organizations  known  as  the  Greater  Dayton 
Association;  but  we  need  something  more  than  business 

•In  its  earlier  stages  the  municipal  research  movement  was 
predicated  on  the  idea  of  the  fullest  and  widest  publicity  as 
iht  basis  of  citizen  cooperation. — Editor. 


NEW  VIEW  OF  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT    67 

organizations;  we  need  community  organizations,  in 
which  men  come  together  not  as  business  men,  not  as 
laboring  men,  not  as  clergymen,  not  as  lawyers,  but  as 
citizens  of  the  community ;  nor  must  the  women  be  left 
out;  and  those  organizations  to-day  which  are  dealing 
most  successfully  with  ciric  problems  are  those  which 
are  emphasizing  this  phase.  Business  must  have  a  hu- 
man basis;  the  community  must  have  a  human  basis; 
humanity  is  the  biggest  idea  which  we  can  possibly 
grasp,  and  it  is  at  the  basis  of  the  greatest  conception 
of  municipal  life. 

Merely  Political  Phenomena,  Subordinate. — There 
was  a  time  when  the  annual  reviews  dealt  with  the  ebb 
and  flow  of  the  political  campaigns.  They  formed  a 
chronicle  of  successes  in  one  list  of  cities  and  of  reverses 
in  another.  To-day  less  attention  is  given  to  the  politi- 
cal campaigns,  because  they  are  only  incidentally  inter- 
esting, really  but  little  more  than  surface  indications. 
The  National  Municipal  League  is  interested  in  con- 
structive policies;  it  is  interested  in  the  big  movements; 
it  is  interested  in  developing  an  adequate  conception  of 
municipal  life  and  municipal  responsibility.  The  cam- 
paigns of  recent  years  have  been  interesting,  in  some 
cases  most  dramatic ;  but  the  important  thing  that  stands 
out  from  all  of  them  is  the  growth  of  the  movement 
for  the  elimination  of  party  designations  and,  in  most 
places,  of  party  considerations  in  municipal  elections; 
even  though  there  may  be  serious  recessions  in  some 
places. 

The  overwhelming  defeat  of  the  proposed  New  York 
constitution  in  191 5  would  seem  to  point  a  lesson.  That 
instrument  was  a  most  interesting  document;  along  cer- 
tain lines  it  represented  a  very  great  advance;  but  its 


6S         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

framers  made  the  mistake  of  introducing  too  many  re- 
forms at  one  time  in  a  given  instrument,  without  ade- 
quate preparedness.  In  other  words,  a  constitution  must 
embody  the  public  sentiment  of  the  community  at  the 
time  of  its  adoption.  "Nor  can  one  hope  to  substitute 
a  philosopher's  stone  of  a  constitution,"  to  use  the 
words  of  the  late  Governor  Russell,  "for  the  self-govern- 
ing instinct  of  the  community."  Many  believe  in  the 
initiative  and  the  referendum  because  they  represent  an 
every-day  way  of  incorporating  in  the  fundamental  law 
the  agreements  of  the  community  upon  a  given  issue. 

Civic  Education. — This  consideration  naturally 
brings  us  to  civic  education;  and  here  we  are  in  a  field 
where  developments  have  been  many,  interesting  and 
encouraging.  "Civics  for  young  Americans"  and  "Civics 
for  new  Americans"  are  among  the  slogans  of  the  new 
movement.  There  was  a  time  when  the  people  did  think 
continentally  first,  and  nearly  always ;  now  they  are  think- 
ing continentally,  and  locally  as  well;  and  they  are  be- 
ginning to  see  that  it  is  the  simple  duty  that  prepared 
for  the  larger  one.  If  one  cannot  lay  claim  to  good 
habits  in  small  matters,  how  can  one  expect  them  in 
larger  things?  And  so  we  find  such  movements  as  that 
originated  by  the  National  Municipal  League,  now  car- 
ried on  by  the  Bureau  of  Education  at  Washington, 
meeting  with  popular  acceptance.  The  "Americanization 
work,"  as  it  is  happily  called,  of  the  national  immigration 
committee,    is   another   phase   of   the   same   movement. 

In  City  Planning. — So  far  I  have  dealt  mainly  with 
conceptions  dealing  with  governmental  reform,  public 
sentiment  and  education.  There  is  another  movement, 
however,  which  calls  for  attention  in  any  consideration 


NEW  VIEW  OF  MUNICIPAL  GOVERNMENT    69 

of  conceptions  of  American  municipal  government;  and 
that  is,  the  movement  popularly  known  as  city  planning, 
a  phrase  much  more  often  used  than  defined.  There 
was  a  time  when  it  was  practically  a  scheme  for  the  city 
beautiful;  but  now  it  has  a  much  richer  and  a  much 
more  comprehensive  meaning.  Its  development  has  been 
in  accordance  with  the  growth  of  the  movement  to  place 
our  cities  upon  a  more  substantial,  a  more  respectable,  a 
more  useful  basis.  Henry  R.  Aldridge,  the  secretary 
of  the  English  National  Housing  and  Town  Planning 
Council,  and  a  veteran  in  the  cause  of  city  planning,  de- 
clares in  his  new  book,  "A  Case  for  Town  Planning," 
that  "the  phrase  should  come  to  clear-headed  adminis- 
trators as  an  appeal  for  the  substitution  of  order  in  the 
place  of  chaos  in  city  growth.  To  those  members  of 
municipal  committees  responsible  for  the  guardianship 
of  the  health  of  the  population,  the  appeal  would  be  that 
of  the  wisdom  of  prevention  as  compared  with  the 
wastefulness  of  cure.  To  those  responsible  for  the  wise 
administration  of  municipal  revenues,  the  appeal  is 
strong  and  direct.  They  have  witnessed  for  many  years 
the  waste  of  the  taxpayers'  money  on  school-house 
schemes,  on  road-widening  schemes  and  on  many  other 
schemes  which  never  would  have  been  necessary  at  all 
if  town-planning  care  and  foresight  had  been  exercised. 
To  them  the  case  for  town-planning  on  the  financial 
side  is  overwhelming;  they  realize  that  the  sick  man  is  a 
burden  to  the  community,  while  the  healthy  man  is  an 
asset ;  the  one  has  to  be  carried,  the  other  carries  his 
own  burdens  and  helps  to  carry  the  burdens  of  others." 
Here  we  have  another  phase  of  the  new  conception  of 
municipal  life:  that  is,  the  obligation  resting  upon  the 
community  to  develop  healthy  men,  women  and  children' 
— healthy  physically,  healthy  morally  and  healthy  spir- 


yo         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

itually;  and  the  amount  of  thought  and  time  and  atten- 
tion given  to  promoting  these  ends  during  the  past  decade 
is  one  of  the  big,  encouraging  factors  in  American  his- 
tory. 

Moreover,  these  are  technical  questions  calling  for  the 
careful  attention  of  trained  experts.  The  changing  and 
developing  conceptions  of  American  municipal  govern- 
ment are  all  tending  in  the  same  direction,  toward  the 
more  complete  introduction  and  utilization  of  expert 
service  in  the  administration  of  our  affairs. 


CHAPTER  VII 

PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS  IN   MUNICIPAL 
ADMINISTRATION 

I.  The  Expert  Problem 

ENGLISH  cities  hire  experts;  German  cities  train 
them,  but  in  America  our  Mayors  and  Councils  have 
experts  thrust  upon  them.  "Democracy  suspects  the 
expert  and  cherishes  the  behef  that  its  ideal  of  equality 
in  some  way  guarantees  that  as  one  man  is  equal  to 
another  before  the  law,  he  is  also  his  equal  in  other  re- 
spects." ^  "Expertness,"  like,  invention,  is  one  of  those 
tardy  children  of  necessity  whose  need  is  felt  often  too 
late  to  accomplish  the  fullest  possible  measure  of  good. 
American  cities  have  until  recently  used  certain  classes 
of  experts  to  prevent  absolute  social  and  economic 
calamities.  They  have  not  as  yet  advanced  to  the  stage 
of  utilizing  these  or  other  specialists  to  secure  positive 
gains. 

The  problem  of  the  expert  falls  into  three  essential 
divisions  so  far  as  American  cities  are  concerned: 

First — Securing  a  body  of  expert  public  servants. 

Second — Organizing  administrative  systems  so  as  to 
get  the  most  from  the  experts. 

Third — Controlling  experts  properly. 

*  Chicago  Tribune  editorial. 

71 


:i2         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

The  first  problem  is  that  of  making  of  our  municipal 
government  a  soil  capable  of  attracting  to  it  and  re- 
taining there,  a  body  of  specialists  in  administration. 
This  means  a  general  acceptance  of  the  principles  under- 
lying specialization  in  industry  by  all  of  our  people.  It 
means  that  municipal  work  must  compete  with  private 
employment  in  remuneration  and  attractiveness. 

The  second  problem  is  related  to  the  first,  but  brings 
forward  an  additional  query.  It  demands  the  solution 
of  the  question  as  to  whether  the  expert  is  to  be  a 
"dry-nurse"  to  some  amateur  administrator  or  is  to  take 
his  rightful  place  as  a  responsible  head  of  a  department. 

Controlling  the  expert  without  hampering  his  work  is 
the  third  major  question.  Is  the  expert  to  be  an  office 
boy  of  the  legislative  branch,  or  is  he  to  be  a  confidential 
adviser?  Will  he  occupy  the  extremely  independent 
position  of  some  of  our  judicial  officers,  or  can  a  non- 
political,  liberal  and  continuous  citizen  control  be  exer- 
cised over  him  and  his  department?  These  are  impor- 
tant questions.  American  cities  must  work  out  an  or- 
ganization which  will  provide  intelligent,  controlled,  ex- 
pert administration.  This  means  a  sane,  middle-of-the- 
road  course  as  opposed  to  the  two  extremes  of 
bureaucracy  and  amateur  administration  of  city  depart- 
ments. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  consider  the  various 
types  of  municipal  specialists  which  have  been  developed 
in  American  cities,  the  position  which  each  class  has 
assumed  in  municipal  administration,  and  particularly 
to  outline  the  effect  that  each  of  the  various  major  de- 
velopments in  municipal  organization  in  America  has  had 
upon  expert  service.  In  addition  to  the  discussion  of 
American   developments,   the  contributions   of  the  two 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS      73 

typical  European  systems  to  "expert  city  government" 
are  considered. 

Classifying  Municipal  Specialists. — American  cities 
have  developed  a  body  of  expert  servants  who  may  be 
classed  under  three  groups  on  the  basis  of  their  previous 
training : 

1.  The  specialists  and  administrative  heads  whose  basic 
training  comes  from  the  older  professions  of  medicine,  law 
and  pedagogy. 

2.  The  group  of  technical  specialists  whose  basic  training 
is  in  engineering  and  the  applied  sciences. 

3.  The  newest  group  of  "administrative  experts"  includ- 
ing men  trained  in  finance,  accounting,  and  administration. 

The  first  of  these  groups  has  long  been  recognized  and 
employed  as  a  matter  of  necessity.  The  second  group 
has  come  into  prominence  with  the  wide  extension  of 
municipal  public  works.  The  specialists  in  administra- 
tive science,  however,  are  still  in  comparative  infancy 
considered  as  a  profession.  They  represent  those  posi- 
tions that  in  our  cities  have  been  commonly  filled  by 
politicians  and  political  appointees.  Latterly  many  of 
these  men,  especially  due  to  the  development  of  the 
city  manager  movement,  have  been  recruited  from  the 
ranks  of  the  engineering  profession  and  also  from  the 
older  professional  ranks. 


II.  The  Contribution  of  Mayor  and  Council 
Governments 

The  "mayor  and  council"  type  of  government  may  be 
fairly  taken  as  the  typical  American  system  of  municipal 


74         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

government.  Easily  the  great  majority  of  our  cities  are 
operated  under  one  or  other  of  the  variations  of  this 
plan  and  with  due  apologies  to  Montesquieu,  it  represents 
the  democratic  passion  for  checks  and  balances — a  weak 
government — at  its  best.  We  have  had  in  America  two 
distinct  variations  of  this  form  in  so  far  as  administra- 
tive organization  is  concerned.  In  one  of  these,  the 
mayor  has  had  complete  power  to  appoint  and  remove 
his  main  department  heads,  and  in  the  other  he  has  ex- 
ercised this  power  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  council. 
Of  these  two  plans,  the  former  has  proven  considerably 
more  effective  in  bringing  high  class  administrators  into 
city  government  and  in  aiding  towards  centralized  ad- 
ministration. 

Contributions  of  Progressive  Mayors. — American 
cities  have  been  fortunate  in  securing  from  time  to  time 
some  very  excellent  citizens  to  serve  as  mayor.  Business 
and  professional  men  of  strong  and  magnetic  tempera- 
ment have  been  induced  to  run  for  the  office  and  have 
set  their  stamp  on  the  administration  of  their  cities  with 
results  which  have  extended  considerably  beyond  the 
expiration  of  their  terms.  The  system,  however,  is  an 
individualistic  one  and  has,  of  course,  the  advantages 
and  disadvantages  of  any  volunteer  plan. 

Really  big  elective  executives  have  always  attracted 
high  class  men  into  the  administrative  departments. 
One  of  the  greatest  contributions  made  by  Charles  Evans 
Hughes  as  Governor  of  New  York,  was  the  fact  that 
he  appointed  many  men  of  superior  ability  to  administra- 
tive posts  and  interested  them  in  the  public  service. 
Theodore  Roosevelt,  while  in  the  presidential  chair,  had 
proportionately  an  even  greater  magnetic  effect  in  at- 
tracting strong  men  into  administrative  posts. 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS 


75 


Typical  fltviERicflfN"  Mayor  ^nd  Council 

PLAN  OF 

Municipal  ORSAniz^riot^. 


I  ELECTORATJ^ 


WofiWS  d.  Commissions. 


RElVlflRKS«'|j=n  Bodies  with  flppRoPWATiNs  powkh*.  Couimciu  ma*  Rw- 

'*==*'  flNCIflU  CONTROL  OVCK  /^LL  0THEf?.5 

CiuiL  3efn/ice.  check  ow  fiPh^tNTi^enT  hno  fl'fwioMSL. 


The  experiences  of  American  city  governments  have 
been  exactly  parallel.  Our  stronger  mayors  have  at- 
tracted men  of  superior  ability  into  office.  The  case  of 
Tom  L.  Johnson  of  Cleveland  is  noteworthy.     Mayor 


76         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Mitchers  four  year  term  produced  splendid  results  in 
the  encouragement  of  expert  service  in  New  York  City. 
The  Blankenberg  administration  in  Philadelphia  brought 
in  Morris  L.  Cooke,  as  director  of  the  department  of 
public  works.  Mayor  Hunt's  regime  in  Cincinnati  is 
another  case  in  point.  It  is  needless  to  cite  further 
instances,  for  in  practically  every  city  of  any  consequence 
in  the  United  States  some  strong  mayor  or  a  number  of 
mayors  have  brought  into  the  public  service  administra- 
tive officers  and  some  few  specialized  experts  of  unusual 
ability. 

Permanent  Expert  Service  Lacking. — In  spite  of 
what  has  been  said  as  to  individual  contributors,  how- 
ever, it  must  be  confessed  that  the  service  which  the 
"mayor  and  council"  form  of  government  has  performed 
in  giving  American  cities  standards  of  expert  service  and 
in  developing  a  permanent  body  of  municipal  administra- 
tors has  not  been  very  great.  The  gains  we  have  made 
have  been  by  bringing,  temporarily,  able  men  into  ad- 
ministration. These  men,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
could  not  be  called  municipal  experts.  They  were  not 
specialists  in  the  various  branches  of  municipal  govern- 
ment although  in  course  of  time  they  had  so  modified 
and  enlarged  their  previous  experience  by  actual  service 
as  to  become  experts.  But  when  they  had  reached  this 
stage,  the  usual  occurrence  was  for  these  men  to  be 
displaced  by  reason  of  changes  in  the  political  complex- 
ion of  the  government  and  retired  into  private  life — 
their  training  wasted  so  far  as  city  government  is  con- 
cerned. 

In  examining  the  records,  extending  over  a  decade, 
of  approximately  seventy  administrators  in  three  cities, 
it  was  noted  that  over  forty  either  under  compulsion  or 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS  ^J-J 

to  avoid  discharge,  left  the  city  service  and  for  no  reason 
excepting  the  one  expressed  in  that  typical  American  con- 
tribution to  real-politik:  "to  the  victor  belongs  the  spoils." 

If  we  could  plot  a  curve  showing  the  ups  and  downs 
in  the  efficiency  of  administration  of  certain  depart- 
ments which  have  existed  over  a  period  of  years,  we 
should  be  able  to  distinguish  prominent  "peaks"  which 
have  resulted  from  the  administration  of  these  really 
able  department  heads.  A  recent  survey  of  the  street 
cleaning  situation  in  New  York  City  by  an  outside  spe- 
cialist tells  us  that  since  Colonel  Waring's  time.  New 
York  City's  methods  have  made  practically  no  advance 
until  the  administration  of  the  present  commissioner  of 
street  cleaning.^ 

Certain  bright  spots  we  find  here  and  there  to  relieve 
a  rather  dark  picture  of  the  constant  discharge  of  ex- 
pert men,  trained  largely  at  the  expense  of  the  city  itself, 
but  these  are  few.  There  are  first,  the  permanent  "in- 
dispensable" men,  who  have  the  work  of  some  depart- 
ment "under  their  hats."  Second,  there  is  a  limited 
number  of  men  whose  merits  have  become  so  generally 
recognized  that  it  would  be  politically  inexpedient  to 
remove  or  displace  them.  Third,  there  is  a  large  num- 
ber of  minor  officers,  generally  protected  by  civil  service, 
who  hold  over  from  one  administration  to  another  but 
who  could  hardly  be  classed  as  experts.  Latterly,  with 
salary  and  service  standardization,  higher  grade  men 
have  come  under  civil  service  classifications. 

The  "indispensable"  man  is  of  course  a  calamity  in 
any  organization.  Nevertheless,  these  constitute  prac- 
tically the  only  permanent  "administrative  expert"  class 
of  officials  which  this  form  of  government  has  allowed 

'Report  on  New  York  Street  Qeaning  Methods,  Richard  T. 
Fox,  p.  5. 


78         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

permanent  tenure.  In  the  case  of  the  professional  man, 
better  results  have  been  secured.  Corporation  counsels 
have  been  uniformly  members  of  the  bar  and  some  few 
of  them,  after  becoming  specialists  in  municipal  law 
through  their  practical  experience,  have  been  retained 
from  year  to  year. 

Medical  men  who  have  served  as  commissioners  of 
health  and  in  the  rank  and  file  of  the  health  departments, 
have  fared  rather  better.  The  director  of  health  of 
Rochester,  New  York,  for  instance,  is  an  officer  of 
twenty  years'  experience  in  his  position.^ 

In  recent  years  political  changes  have  failed  to  dis- 
turb many  of  the  trained  engineering  specialists  and 
some  of  these  have  become  fairly  permanent  officers. 
Philadelphia  rejoiced  in  the  fact  that  even  with  the 
pronounced  change  in  political  control  following  the 
passing  of  the  Blankenberg  administration,  the  head  of 
the  bureau  of  surveys  was  retained  as  the  director  of 
the  department  of  wharves,  docks  and  ferries,  and  the 
head  of  the  bureaus  of  water  and  of  highways,  were  not 
disturbed  in  their  positions,  and  a  very  competent  engi- 
neer was  advanced  to  succeed  Director  Cooke  of  the 
department  of  public  works. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  find  Boston  ridding  herself  of 
trained  men  in  the  department  of  public  works  purely 
for  political  causes  and  Chicago,  under  an  indescribable 
mayor,  rooting  out  the  administrative  heads  trained  by 
previous  administrations.* 

Interference  in  Administrative  Detail. — The  "mayor 
and  council"  type  of  government  has  shown  some  very 
hopeful  signs  in  regard  to  the  policy  of  controlling  its 

'  Report  N.  Y.  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  on  Government 
of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  p.  261. 
*  National  Municipal  Review,  March,  1917. 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS      79 

experts,  principally  by  refraining  from  attempting  to 
control  them  at  all.  There  seems  to  be  a  genuine  feeling 
that  the  legislative  body  and  even  the  mayor  should  inter- 
fere as  little  as  possible  with  the  detail  of  administration. 
It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  this  feeling  is  so  much 
due  to  any  conviction  on  the  part  of  municipal  councils 
as  to  the  theory  of  the  thing,  as  it  is  to  the  fact  that 
they  have  not  had  the  information  to  exercise  intelligent 
control. 

A  survey  by  the  Milwaukee  reference  library  showed 
that  in  one  year's  business  transacted  by  the  Milwaukee 
common  council,  only  18  percent  of  the  questions  dis- 
cussed were  legislative  in  character  and  probably  less 
than  18  percent  of  the  total  time  of  the  Council  members 
was  given  to  legislative  matters.^  The  remaining  82  per- 
cent were  clearly  administrative  matters.  One  of  the 
ablest  members  of  this  council  stated  publicly  that  the 
worst  disagreements  in  the  council  were  not  over  matters 
of  policy  involving  the  expenditure  of  millions  of  dollars, 
but  over  petty  details  of  administration  involving  insig- 
nificant sums. 

American  experience  under  the  "mayor  and  council" 
form  of  city  government  seems  to  show  us  that  the 
independent  elective  executive  has  undoubtedly  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  a  considerable  number  of  able  admin- 
istrative heads  into  municipal  administration.  These 
men  have  had  some  degree  of  administrative  freedom 
while  in  office,  especially  under  a  strong  mayor,  but  there 
has  been  also  a  general  counteracting  tendency  on  the 
part  of  city  councils  to  interfere  with  administrative 
matters.  The  "mayor  and  council"  type  of  organization 
has  not,  with  the  exception  of  some  few  professional 
and  technical  positions,  contributed  much  to  permanent 

•Survey  by  Milwaukee  Municipal  Reference  Library — 1915. 


8o         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

expertness  in  government.     This  has  been  due  princi- 
pally to  four  causes : 

First — Uncertainty  of  tenure  and  dismissal  for  political 
reasons  and  not  for  inefficiency. 

Second — Lower  salaries  than  can  be  obtained  for  similar 
employment  from  private  corporations. 

Third — Charter  limitations  and  local  prejudices  which 
have  prevented  a  trained  official  in  one  city  transferring  to 
another. 

Fourth — Because  there  is  no  real  place  for  the  permanent 
expert  administrator  under  this  type  of  administration. 

III.  The  Independent  Boards  and  Commissions 

When  cities  grow  tired  of  the  maloperation  of  some 
important  department  by  politicians  or  when  new  and 
important  activities  are  to  be  launched,  they  have  been 
wont  to  turn  in  despair  and  entrust  the  management  to 
a  so-called  independent  board,  generally  non-salaried. 
They  may  be  elective  or  appointive,  but  above  all  things 
they  have  a  certain  continuity  of  existence  since  the 
members  are  generally  appointed  or  elected  for  overlap- 
ping terms  of  six  or  eight  years. 

The  independent  boards  are  composed  of  citizens  ap- 
pointed by  the  mayor  with  or  without  the  approval  of 
the  city  council.  In  some  cases  members  of  the  council 
have  been  included  in  their  membership.^  Sometimes 
appointments  are  made  to  them  by  the  governor  of  the 
state,  as  in  Massachusetts.  In  other  cases,  as  in  Chicago, 
appointments  are  made  by  the  judges  of  the  circuit 
courts. 

'  Library  and  Museum  Boards  of  Milwaukee  each  include  three 
aldermen. 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS      8i 

The  essential  characteristics  of  all  of  these  non-salaried 
organizations  are  practically  the  same: 

First — They  are  in  charge  of  one  municipal  function  or 
group  of  closely  related  functions. 

Second — They  are  organized  to  serve  as  an  advisory  board 
of  directors,  the  members  giving  only  part  time  to  the  work. 

Third — They  are  generally  given  by  law,  certain  revenues 
which  are  beyond  the  control  of  the  council. 

Relation  to  Permanent  Service. — The  contribution 
of  independent  boards  to  expert  municipal  administra- 
tion seems  to  be  a  distinct  one.  They  have  furnished 
that  one  absolutely  necessary  basis  of  efficient  administra- 
tion— continuity.  Their  administrations  taken  on  the 
whole,  have  been  singularly  free  from  the  considerations 
of  party  politics.  When  we  add  to  this  the  fact  that 
they  have  undoubtedly  commanded,  on  the  average,  a 
higher  type  of  personnel  than  have  city  councils,  it  is 
not  at  all  strange  that  these  organizations  have  been  able 
to  furnish  a  favoring  soil  for  the  growth  of  expertness 
in  administration  and  the  development  of  a  body  of 
trained  public  servants. 

A  survey  of  the  types  of  city  functions  which  have 
been  placed  under  the  control  of  administrative  boards 
show  that  they  include  practically  all  of  the  recognized 
standard  municipal  activities.  Generally  speaking,  the 
education  and  public  welfare  functions  have  been  man- 
aged by  administrative  boards  rather  more  frequently 
than  any  other  city  business.  The  administrative  boards 
have  also  controlled  very  frequently  the  furnishing  of 
especially  important  public  services  such  as  the  opera- 
tion of  public  utilities  and  the  carrying  out  of  extensive 
projects  of  public  works. 

It  has  been  a  common  practice  among  many  of  the 


82         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Western  and  Middle  Western  cities  to  place  the  organi- 
zation and  construction  of  large  projects  under  a  citizen 
board  appointed  generally  by  the  mayor  and  existing 
until  completion  of  the  project.  This  plan  was  adopted 
when  the  Milwaukee  water  supply  system  was  con- 
structed and  its  organization  perfected.  The  same  plan 
was  employed  in  building  the  sewerage  disposal  systems 
both  in  Baltimore  and  in  Milwaukee. 

In  many  cities  the  health  officer  is  responsible,  not 
directly  to  the  common  council,  but  to  a  citizen  board. 
Opinion  is  not  entirely  unanimous  as  to  the  success  of 
this  type  of  organization,  but  the  feeling  is  that  as  long 
as  the  proportion  of  medical  men  upon  the  board  is  not 
too  large,  the  plan  is  excellent  and  offers  a  distinct  ad- 
vantage to  a  progressive  commissioner  of  health  in  secur- 
ing better  legislation  and  more  liberal  appropriations 
for  the  efficient  prosecution  of  public  health  activities. 

Expertness  in  Education. — The  largest  body  of 
municipal  experts  (approximately  750,000)  which  ex- 
ists in  America  to-day  is  included  in  the  teaching  pro- 
fession. This  is  the  only  function  of  our  government 
which  has  been  practically  free  from  partisan  politics. 
Well  defined  standards  of  excellence  have  been  devel- 
oped. The  various  grades  in  the  service  have  been  very 
largely  standardized  and  it  is  the  usual  rather  than  the 
unusual  practice  for  the  individuals  in  this  service  to 
change  from  one  city  to  another  and  for  cities  to  seek 
trained  superintendents  and  educators,  wherever  they 
may  be  found. 

Consider  the  case  of  filling  the  vacancy  in  the  superin- 
tendency  of  schools  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  by  the  board 
of  education.  In  this  instance,  we  are  told  that  no  less 
than  seventy-one  men  were  suggested  for  the  position  of 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS      83 

superintendent  of  schools.  By  a  process  of  elimination 
the  list  was  reduced  first  to  eleven  and  finally  to  five, 
from  among  whom  the  final  selection  was  made.  Not 
one  of  the  five  were  from  the  city  of  Cleveland  and  not 
one  of  them  were  residents  of  Ohio.  All  were  men  of 
recognized  ability  and  training.^ 

Fire  and  Police  Boards. — Milwaukee  displays  a 
somewhat  peculiar  variation  of  the  independent  board 
organization  known  as  the  fire  and  police  commission. 
The  powers  and  duties  of  this  board  are  greater  than 
those  of  a  mere  civil  service  department.  It  cannot  fix 
salaries  nor  can  it  create  positions  or  appropriate  money. 
It  does,  however,  have  the  power  to  appoint  the  heads 
of  the  Fire  and  Police  Departments  and  to  confirm  all 
minor  appointments  and  dismissals.  This  sort  of  organi- 
zation together  with  a  pension  system  has  created  a 
permanent  group  of  public  safety  departments  which 
are  practically  removed  from  political  influence  and 
control,  making  them  a  distinct  service  rather  than  a 
mere  group  of  departments  and  jobs.  The  esprit  de 
corps  of  these  departments  has  for  years  been  excellent 
and  should  continue  so  indefinitely. 

Political  control  of  the  public  safety  departments 
temporarily  produced  in  some  cities  some  very  excellent 
results.  The  administration  of  Commissioner  Woods 
is  one  of  the  "peaks"  in  New  York's  police  history.  The 
same  experience  holds  true  of  a  dozen  other  cities.  But 
these  "peaks"  are  inevitably  preceded  and  succeeded  by 
corresponding  "valleys,"  and  the  effect  of  this  fluctua- 
tion has  been  decidedly  inimical  to  the  development  of 
permanent  expert  service,  because  the  department  head 

'Bulletin  of  Cleveland  Foundation,  Jan.  12,  1917. 


84         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

enters  and  leaves,  with  political  changes — ^the  "politics" 
of  administration  overshadows  its  machinery. 

Relations  between  Boards  and  Administrators. — 
The  relations  existing  between  the  citizen  boards  and 
their  responsible  administrative  department  heads  may- 
fall  into  any  one  of  three  distinct  classes: 

First — The  board  acts  as  the  administrative  head  of  the 
department  passing  on  practically  every  administrative  de- 
tail. 

Second — The  board  acts  in  an  advisory  and  controlling 
capacity  turning  the  operation  of  the  department  over  to 
their  administrator. 

Third — The  board  assumes  the  function  of  a  civil  service 
commission  and  keeps  in  comparatively  slight  touch  with  the 
problems  and  operation  of  the  department. 

The  first  plan  represents  simply  detailed  control  of 
administration  by  non-experts.  It  results  in  advisory 
boards  auditing  "ten  cent"  bills  of  which  they  know 
little,  debating  gravely  on  whether  or  not  to  buy  a  new 
chair  for  an  employee  and  inspecting  the  bricks  for  a 
new  building.  It  means  more  administration  by  ama- 
teurs or  at  the  best  by  semi-professionals.  It  means  in- 
efficiency. 

The  second  plan  represents  the  healthy  type  of  organi- 
zation wherein  the  citizens  on  the  board  select  a  man  of 
ability  whom  they  can  trust,  and  then  interfere  with  his 
administration  only  on  matters  of  general  policy.  The 
attached  resolution  passed  by  the  Cleveland  board  of 
education  to  guide  its  relation  to  the  new  superintendent 
is  important  as  expressing  a  correct  relationship  between 
citizen  controlling  board  and  its  chief  administration 
agent: 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS  85 

"RESOLVED,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  meeting  that 
educational  policies  should  not  be  imposed  upon  the  new 
superintendent  by  the  board  of  education,  but  that  he  should 
be  looked  to  to  inaugurate  such  educational  policies  by  and 
with  the  approval  of  the  board  as  he  deems  advisable;  and 
to  maintain  them  without  interference  by  the  board,  unless 
and  until  the  lack  of  wisdom  of  any  such  policy  be  shown 
by  experience:  subject  always  however  to  financial  exigen-* 
cies  which  may  face  the  board."  ^ 

The  civil  service  type  of  boards  appears  to  be  an  unde- 
sirable extreme.  Boards  like  the  Milwaukee  Fire  and 
Police  Commission  which  act  merely  as  a  Trial  Board  in 
the  case  of  a  preferment  of  charges  against  a  department 
head  do  not  furnish  the  much-to-be-desired  citizen  co- 
operation which  is  essential  to  efficient  administration. 

Considering  a  period  of  years  we  must  conclude  that 
the  independent  boards  whose  membership  is  non-salaried 
and  overlapping,  have  been  one  of  the  biggest  single 
influences  in  developing  expert  service  in  municipal  ad- 
ministration.   This  has  been  due  to  three  causes: 

First — The  overlapping  method  of  appointment  has  made 
the  administrative  policies  of  these  boards  continuing. 

Second — The  lack  of  remuneration  has  kept  out  the  party 
politician. 

Third — The  absence  of  the  politician  has  brought  into  city 
service  able  business  and  professional  men  as  advisors  in  ad- 
ministration. 

This  situation  has  produced  a  far  more  intelligent  and 
liberal  policy  than  was  possible  under  council  control. 
A  legislative  body  must  represent  a  fair  cross-section  of 
the  electorate  and  it  is  extremely  hard  to  convince  a  man 

'Letter — President  of  Cleveland  Board  of  Education,  March, 
1917. 


^6         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

who  has  never  earned  over  $ioo  per  month  that  it  is 
economy  to  pay  $10,000  a  year  for  a  high  grade  admin- 
istrative head. 

This  parsimonious  policy  shows  up  clearly  when  we 
compare  the  salaries  received  by  administrative  officials 
of  a  large  western  city.  The  highest  salary  received 
by  any  administrative  officer  in  charge  of  any  of  the 
departments  under  the  common  council  and  mayor  is 
$5,000.  This  is  paid  to  the  commissioner  of  public  works 
who  in  the  case  of  this  city  has  many  of  the  functions 
of  a  city  manager.  In  contrast  the  sewerage  commis- 
sion, which  is  outside  of  the  control  of  the  council,  pays 
its  chief  engineer  $12,000,  while  the  board  of  education, 
also  independent  of  council  control,  pays  its  superinten- 
dent $7,500  and  its  business  manager  $6,000.  None  of 
these  positions  surpasses  that  of  commissioner  of  public 
works  in  administrative  responsibility  and  importance. 

A  fair  degree  of  liberality,  continuity  of  policy  and 
freedom  from  petty  local  considerations  makes  a  very 
fair  basis  for  expert  service  and  for  good  administration. 
This,  it  must  be  conceded,  the  administrative  boards 
have  contributed  to  American  municipal  administration. 

IV.  The  Commission  and  Commission-Manager 
Movements 

The  commission  form  of  government  is  the  American 
vest-pocket  edition  of  the  English  plan  of  council  govern- 
ment. Its  chief  difference  is  that  it  substitutes  a  small 
council  for  a  large  one  and  single  individuals  for  large 
committees  as  controlling  agencies.  While  for  a  time 
its  adoption  is  bound  to  carry  with  it  a  certain  wave  of 
public  civic  consciousness  which  has  and  will  result  in 
improved  administration,  there  seems  to  be  small  reason 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS      87 

to  look  to  the  commission  form  of  government  for  any- 
great  contribution  to  expert  service. 

A  similar  pessimistic  view  ^  must  be  taken  of  the 
commission-manager  form  as  distinguished  from  the 
commission-manager  idea.  The  commission-manager 
form  of  government  simply  means  council  government 
with  a  lot  of  good  advice  attached  to  it  to  the  eifect  that 
the  aldermen  must  not  bother  the  city  manager.  When 
we  unify  our  administrative  machine  with  our  means 
for  registering  public  opinion  on  matters  of  policy  in 
one  central  body,  with  our  background  of  practical  poli- 
tics, we  are  inviting  political  changes  in  the  administra- 
tion more  than  ever  before. 

The  city-manager  idea,  however,  goes  far  beyond  the 
machinery  which  is  constructed  to  put  it  into  effect.  The 
city-manager  idea  is  a  frank  recognition  of  the  fact 
that  municipal  administration  is  properly  the  business  of 
experts  and  that  not  only  shall  professional  and  tech- 
nical positions  be  filled  by  specially  trained  men,  but 
that  trained  administrators  must  take  the  place  of  the 
old  political  heads.  Further  than  this,  the  city-manager 
idea-  recognizes  that  this  administrative  head  must  be 
largely  free  to  handle  the  detail  of  his  office  without 
interference,  and  that  the  duty  of  the  legislative  branch 
is  to  prescribe  what  to  do,  not  how  to  do  it. 

City  manager  government  has  grown  with  such  rapid- 
ity that  there  has  been  grave  concern  in  the  minds  of 

•  Mr.  Pollock's  discussion  of  the  function  and  service  of  boards 
in  American  city  government  is  a  welcome  contribution.  He  has 
had  favorable  experience  with  these  boards  and  is  inclined  here 
to  understate  the  advantages  of  the  city  manager  scheme  of  gov- 
ernment in  order  that  the  "board"  plan,  which  he  favors,  is  pre- 
sented in  the  most  favorable  light.  Compare,  however,  in  this 
connection  Mr.  Woodruff's  comments  in  Chapter  VI  and  the 
footnote  on  page  89. — Editor. 


88         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

students  of  administration  as  to  whether  or  not  the  lack 
of  a  trained  personnel  upon  which  to  draw  would  not 
tend  to  discredit  the  idea.  Much  of  this  danger  has 
been  counterbalanced  by  the  fact  that  many  cities  which 
adopted  the  plan  were  previously  about  ready  for  the 
hands  of  the  receiver  and  in  consequence  their  standards 
of  operation  and  service  were  so  low  that  even  a  com- 
paratively inexperienced  though  energetic  man  was  able 
to  make  an  excellent  showing. 

As  may  be  supposed,  the  city  managers  who  were 
selected  came  largely  from  other  fields.  There  were  in 
fact,  and  are,  but  few  trained  administrative  heads  to 
be  had.  The  dnly  group  available  were  in  the  tech- 
nical field  limited  largely  to  the  engineering  profession 
which  had  invaded  the  field  of  municipal  administration 
simultaneously  with  the  growing  importance  of  municipal 
public  works.  Of  thirty-eight  city  managers  whose  rec- 
ords and  qualifications  were  readily  obtainable,  fifteen 
were  primarily  engineers,  generally  with  some  training 
in  city  engineering  offices.  Four  more  were  engineers 
of  such  training  and  experience  that  they  could  easily 
be  classed  as  trained  administrators.  Seven  men  could  be 
classed  as  skilled  in  the  administrative  sciences.  The 
remaining  twelve  were  largely  local  men  who  had  secured 
what  training  they  possessed  either  in  political  offices  or 
in  lines  which  apparently  did  not  relate  to  their  duties. 

The  present  group  of  city  managers  appear  to  be  in 
point  of  ability  a  very  fair  lot.  A  certain  few  of  them 
could  be  classed  with  the  big  administrative  specialists 
handling  private  business.  The  older  types  of  munic- 
ipal government  in  many  of  our  progressive  cities,  how- 
ever, can  show  many  individuals  of  equal  ability.  The 
very  encouraging  thing  is  that  city  managers  getting  their 
experience  in  small  cities  have  been  able  to  move  into 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS  89 

the   larger   ones.     In   a   large   majority   of   cases,   they 
have  been  selected  without  regard  to  locality. 

The  movement  is  new,  however — we  cannot  even  sur- 
vey the  results  of  say  ten  years'  experience  in  cities  of 
any  size.  Thus  far,  the  city  managers  have  been  less 
subject  to  legislative  interference  than  they  have  had  any 
reason  to  expect.  We  have  had  very  few  discharged 
city  managers  looking  for  positions.  This  is  truly  re- 
markable when  it  is  considered  that  it  is  a  hard  thing 
to  make  efficient  administration  a  popular  subject  and 
that  it  is  not  apt  to  win  as  many  votes  as  a  more  indiffer- 
ent policy  which  interests  vitally  certain  individuals  in  the 
support  of  the  administration.  The  best  explanation  of 
the  matter  thus  far  is,  that  it  has  required  lean  years 
and  a  civic  awakening  to  furnish  the  dynamic  force  which 
discards  the  old  system  and  puts  in  the  commission- 
manager  and  that  same  awakening  carries  with  it  for  a 
time  a  high  type  of  man  who  becomes  city  commissioner. 
Time  alone  will  tell  whether  or  not  an  electorate  can  be 
kept  stirred  up  to  keep  in  office  an  efficient  administra- 
tion and  at  the  sarne  time  pay  attention  to  other  problems 
of  more  general  interest.^** 

^Mr.  Pollock  in  his  discussion  of  the  city  manager  form  as 
distinguished  from  the  city  manager  idea  has  judged  it  largely 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  administrative  board  system,  to 
which  he  is  strongly  attached.  It  is  an  evident  fact  that  the 
administrative  board  system  is  an  embodiment  of  the  city  man- 
ager idea  in  individual  departments  or  services.  There  is  as  the 
principal  characteristic  of  this  idea  a  controlling  lay  body,  and 
an  expert  manager  fully  vested  with  power  over  the  adminis- 
tration by  the  agent  of  the  policy-declaring  board.  It  perhaps 
should  also  be  remarked  that  usually  the  administrative  board 
is  two  removes  from  the  public  instead  of  one.  The  expert 
under  the  administration  board  system  is  responsible  to  a  board 
who  is  responsible  to  an  elective  official  who  is  responsible  to 


90         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

V.  The  Experience  of  Foreign  Municipalities 

The  expert  in  varying  degrees  is  a  permanent  institu- 
tion in  practically  all  European  systems  of  municipal 

the  public.     The  city  manager  is  responsible  to  a  board  who  is 
responsible  directly  to  the  public. 

It  may  be  said  in  favor  of  the  present  embodiment  of  the  city 
manager  idea  as  against  the  administrative  board  system,  that 
the  possibiHties  of  a  correlated  municipal  policy  and  a  cooperative 
administrative  machinery  is  more  likely  under  the  unified  and 
centralized  organization  of  the  city  manager  plan  than  under 
the  decentralized  administration  board  system.  It  is  not  here 
maintained,  let  it  be  noted,  that  centralization  as  such  is  always 
desirable. 

The  rapid  extension  of  the  city  manager  plan  as  the  basis  of 
municipal  organization  makes  it  important  that  its  relation  to 
expert  city  government  be  clearly  understood  and  sympathetically ' 
regarded.    It  has  been  a  tremendously  helpful  agency. 

The  increase  of  city  manager  government  in  advance  of  any 
trained  city  managers  is  a  helpful  experience  to  meet  any  in- 
sidious kind  of  argument  against  innovation.  It  is  very  ear- 
nestly recited  that  certain  steps  must  not  be  taken  until  the 
specifically  trained  men  are  available  to  carry  them  on.  An 
apparently  common  sense  and  plausible  argument!  But  on  that 
theory  would  we  ever  get  anything  started?  And  the  only  vital 
test  to  locate  the  ability  needed  to  carry  out  new  programs  is 
the  test  of  experience — "Can  he  carry  the  load?"  Educational 
institutions  will  not  train  men  on  a  contingency,  and  in  this 
field  these  institutions  generally  do  not  even  begin  to  train  them 

after  the  plan  has  been  adopted  in  cities  within  

years  after  its  introduction.  The  few  institutions  that  are  pre- 
sumably training  city  managers  have  merely  regrouped  existing 
courses  without  very  much,  if  any,  adaptation  of  the  courses 
to  the  new  specific  function  they  are  all  expected  to  serve. 
r  'the  city  manager  plan  of  city  government  has  had  a  more 
/stimulating  effect  in  recruiting  a  profession  of  municipal  ex- 
/perts  than  any  other  single  force  operating.  And  it  is  especially 
significant  that  it  is  developing  that  particular  type  of  expert 
that  government  will  more  and  more  need,  the  administrative 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS  91 

administration.  The  old  countries  commonly  do  not  run 
amuck  in  municipal  party  politics  nor  do  local  prejudices 

expert— the  expert  in  managing  as  distinct  from  the  specialized 
technical  expert.  We  had  heretofore  been  developing  the  latter 
type  of  expert,  though  rather  slowly— the  city  engineer,  the  city 
attorney,  the  municipal  accountant,  and  the  like. 

The  city  manager  form  of  city  government  has  developed 
these  administrative  experts  because  of  certain  very  highly 
favorable  conditions  which  may  be  here  briefly  summarized. 

The  determination  of  public  policy  is  in  the  hands  of  a  repre- 
sentative popularly-elected  group  of  citizens.  They  are  not 
presumably  expert,  but  they  have  common  sense  and  they  are 
representative  of  the  citizen  body.  Final  authority  rests  in 
them  as  does  control  of  the  experts.  The  administration,  as 
distinct  from  the  legislation,  is  under  the  direction  of  a  chief 
expert,  the  city  manager.  The  primary  duty  of  the  adminis- 
tration under  the  direction  of  the  city  manager  is  to  carry  out 
efficiently,  and  as  economically  as  is  consistent  with  efficiency, 
the  policies  laid  down  by  the  representative  council.  It  is  this 
admixture  of  layman  and  expert  that  President  Lowell  regards 
as  so  essential  as  an  antidote,  or  rather  a  preventive,  to  a  self- 
sufficient  bureaucracy. 

Moreover,  these  general  conditions  have  developed  certain 
eminently  sound  practices,  stimulating  to  a  profession  of  mu- 
nicipal experts.  Cities  look  beyond  their  own  confines  for  their 
public  servants.  The  parochial  spirit  of  limiting  appointments 
to  public  office  to  geographical  or  political  boundaries  is  being 
rapidly  broken  down  in  city  government.  The  local  residence 
requirement  for  public  office  is,  in  city-manager  cities,  practi- 
cally completely  broken  down. 

Supplementary  to  this  is  the  further  practice  of  large  cities 
looking  to  smaller  cities  for  promising  men.  Niagara  Falls, 
New  York,  called  its  city-manager  from  Cadillac,  Michigan; 
Grand  Rapids,  Michigan,  called  its  city  manager  from  Jackson, 
Michigan,  which  originally  called  him  from  a  position  under  the 
city  manager  of  Dayton. 

This  practice  usually  means  to  the  city  manager  not  only 
more  prominent  positions  and  larger  opportunity,  but  substan- 
tial increases  in  salary.     This  is,  indeed,  a  leavening  influence. 


92         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

prevent  them  from  employing  "alien"  administrators.  In 
some  cases,  as  in  England,  public  opinion  and  tradition 
serve  to  keep  the  specialist  or  technical  man  free  from 
political  inroads.  The  continental  countries,  particularly 
France  and  Germany,  supplement  this  v^rith  a  very  thor^ 
ough  check  by  the  central  governments  on  appointments 
and  other  administrative  acts. 

But,  apart  from  increase  of  salary  to  managers,  the  city  man- 
ager plan  has  stimulated  a  higher  scale  of  salaries  in  municipal 
government. 

City  managers  are  usually  appointed  for  no  definite  term,  but 
serve  during  "good  behavior."  With  a  healthy  public  senti- 
ment, this  is  as  it  should  be.  Though  this  statement  may  make 
the  practice  appear  to  put  the  manager  in  a  precarious  position, 
it,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  is  the  sure  basis  for  developing  reasonably 
permanent  tenure  of  office — that  is,  during  the  period  the  man- 
ager is  giving  efficient  service. 

Because  of  the  comparative  simplicity  of  city  manager  form 
of  government,  it  is  possible  to  concentrate  a  pitiless  publicity 
upon  what  is  happening  in  city  manager  government.    This  fact 
will  make  it  increasingly  necessary  for  councils  to  look  to  man- 
agers for  service  only,  and  managers  will  remain  in  their  posi- 
tions as  long  as  they  are  giving  service — public  service.     This 
fact  is  also  a  basis   for  a  constructive  publicity  policy  in  city 
manager  cities.    And  if  this  is  done,  we  have  a  sure  basis  for 
intelligent  citizen  interest  in  government. 
r""The  city  manager   form  of   city  government  is  perhaps   the 
j  most  influential  agency  in  breaking  down  governmental  admin- 
I  istration  by  a  succession  of  amateurs  and  helping  to  substitute 
/  for  it  administration  by  trained  men.     Note  particularly  in  this 
f  sense  that  the  administration  is  to  be  conducted  by  trained  men 
I  and  not  the  government!     A  democratic  government  must  not, 
i   of   course,   be   in  the   hands   of   experts.     Experts   are   always 
subordinate,  serving  the  public  with  devotion  and  skill  in  order 
to  promote  the  public  welfare.     Mr.  Pollock,  somewhere  in  his 
chapter,  refers  somewhat  impatiently  to  experts  serving  as  "wet 
nurses."     Why  not?     And  why  should  that  not  be  exactly  the 
position  of   experts? — Editor. 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS      93 

The  contribution  of  this  system  is  a  recognized  body 
of  trained  men  capable  of  handling  the  various  functions 
of  city  government,  and  enabled  to  progress  from  one 
city  to  another.  Hampering  civil  service  restrictions  are 
unknown,  but  practically  every  municipal  expert  starts 
with  some  sort  of  technical  training  and  then  serves  a 
long  apprenticeship  until  he  becomes  a  full-fledged 
burgomeister,  baurat,  schulrat,  syndicus,  town  clerk, 
manager  of  tram-ways,  or  whatever  the  post  may  be. 

Positions  of  Administrators  in  European  Systems. — 
There  are  two  distinct  conceptions  of  the  function  of  the 
municipal  administrative  expert  to  be  noted  among  Euro- 
pean countries: 

First — The  British  plan,  which  makes  the  expert  the  imme- 
diate servant  of  the  legislative  branch  and  acting  at  their 
will. 

Second — The  Continental  or,  more  particularly,  German 
plan,  which  sharply  defines  and  separates  the  functions  of 
legislation  and  administration;  organizing  the  experts  into 
an  administrative  council  which  balances  the  legislative 
council. 

Charts  "A"  and  "B"  show  the  variations  in  organiza- 
tion between  the  two  plans  quite  clearly. 

British  Council  Government. — Chart  "A"  is  the 
typical  British  organization.  Here  the  city  council 
composed  of  aldermen  and  councilmen  is  practically 
supreme  in  running  municipal  affairs.  British  councils 
are  fairly  large  and  handle  most  of  their  work  through 
the  committee  system.  Each  of  these  standing  commit- 
tees is  practically  in  charge  of  a  department  of  the  city 
government  and  the  expert  department  head  is  under  its 
orders.    Final  action  in  all  matters  lies  with  the  council. 


94         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 


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tive board. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  department 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS 


95 


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DemmMENT 


I  DEPAimiENT  I     Defmi?tment 


[PfPwgTMEWT}    {PcPHWTMrwT     |Pp»wmHci>n:j 


fDlRlCT  rtPPOlNTMCNT*  COKTKOI. 
/IDYISORY   COKTROL. 


Chart  "Br 


head  is  a  mere  errand  boy.  He  must,  however,  be  a  man 
of  considerable  diplomacy  and  human  qualities  to  get 
the  support  of  the  committee  in  bringing  about  the  con- 


96         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

summation  of  administrative  policies  he  desires.  The 
Town  Clerk  is  of  course  responsible  directly  to  the  coun- 
cil and  is  practically  the  center  around  which  the  detail 
work  must  revolve.  There  is  moreover  a  special  com- 
mittee composed  of  the  chairmen  of  the  various  depart- 
mental committees  which,  in  a  way,  is  a  device  for 
securing  administrative  unity.  The  essential  of  the 
British  plan,  however,  is  that  the  expert  shall  be  the 
servant  and  adviser  of  the  council.  His  position  is 
relatively  inconspicuous  and  no  formal  organization  exists 
to  allow  the  permanent  administrators  to  meet  and 
advance  plans  of  general  importance  for  submission  to 
the  Council.  There  is  no  recognized  administration  as 
opposed  to  the  legislature. 

German  Consolidation  of  Administration. — The 
German  system.  Chart  "B",  is  very  similar  in  respect  to 
its  basic  organization  to  the  English  plan.  Each  major 
operating  department  has  a  "deputation"  which  meets 
with  the  department  head  and  supervises  his  work  in 
a  manner  similar  to  that  of  the  English  council  committee. 
These  deputations,  however,  are  composed  of  citizen 
members  as  well  as  councilmen  and  do  not  have  complete 
power  to  operate  the  department  but  can  only  recom- 
mend, not  to  the  council,  but  to  the  administrative  body, 
the  magistrat.  This  is  one  essential  difference  in  the 
plan  for  using  the  experts. 

The  German  magistrat  is  primarily  an  administrative 
council  of  experts  diluted  with  certain  councilmen  and 
unpaid  citizen  members  to  avoid  its  becoming  too  "ex- 
pert" and  unsympathetic  an  organization.  This  body,  for 
instance,  prepares  the  budget  and  submits  it  to  the 
council,  which  can  only  decrease  items.  It  has  the  widest 
freedom  in  handling  the  affairs  of  administration  and 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS  97 

provides  one  important  element  which  the  English  plan 
leaves  out,  namely,  that  of  centralized  expert  control 
over  departmental  operation. 

The  German  Burgomeister  also  has  far  greater  oppor- 
tunity of  becoming  a  prominent  public  figure  than  has 
the  Town  Clerk  of  the  British  city.  He  is  expected 
rather  than  allowed  to  promulgate  public  policies  and  to 
strive  for  their  adoption  and  does  not  ascribe  the  credit 
to  some  politician.  The  "lex  Addickes"  ^^  is  a  monument 
to  a  famous  burgomeister  of  Frankfort.  This  law 
would  bear  the  name  of  some  legislator  in  any  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  countries  rather  than  that  of  its  true 
"parent." 

It  is  not  hard  to  strike  a  balance  and  say  that  one  or 
the  other  of  the  two  systems  results  in  the  higher 
degree  of  expert  service.  The  best  informed  English 
students  decry  their  system  of  using  the  expert  as  a 
subordinate.  While  German  Socialists  complain  of 
Prussian  suppression  and  of  governmental  discrimina- 
tion against  Socialist  administrators,  we  find  little 
complaint  against  giving  prominence  to  "the  man  who 
knows." 

This  quotation  by  an  English  student  of  administration 
as  to  English  use  of  experts  applies  so  closely  to 
American  conditions  that  it  is  worth  repeating : — "While 
German  municipalities  can  teach  us  little  or  nothing 
worth  learning  in  regard  to  the  electoral  basis  of  local 
government  or  the  constitution  of  the  town  councils,- 
their  institutions  of  the  professional  and  salaried  mayor 
and  aldermen  represent  the  highest  and  most  efficient 
development  of  municipal  organization  reached  in  any 
country." 

"Most    Englishmen    at    heart    prefer    the    worst    of 

"City  Planning  Law  applying  to  suburban  development 


98         EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

amateurs  to  the  best  of  experts,  and  would  rather  be 
wrong  with  the  one  than  right  with  the  other.  They 
will  not  persist  in  that  preference,  and  will  long  cling 
to  the  honest  belief  that  the  country's  greatness  is  based 
upon  it."  " 

The  results  of  the  English  system  of  "suppressing" 
the  expert  seem  to  be  as  follows : 

First — A  comparatively  lower  type  of  men  go  into  the 
service  than  the  continental  cities  can  command. 

Second — Progression  of  trained  men  from  small  to  larger 
cities  is  less  easy. 

The  influence  of  legislators  on  the  appointment  and 
removal  of  subordinates  is  another  drawback.  In  Amer- 
ica we  well  know  that  this  system  coupled  with  our  Jack- 
sonian  background  has  worked  out  so  as  to  hinder 
considerably  the  retention  of  a  trained  force.  England 
and  Canada  err  perhaps  by  going  to  the  other  extreme, 
and  public  opinion,  abetted  by  tradition,  works  for 
permanency  in  office.  British  students,  however,  state 
that  the  tendency  of  this  sentiment  for  permanency  is 
to  fill  administrative  offices  with  superannuated  employees 
and  to  overman  departments,  since  too  much  unsuper- 
vised continuity  seems  to  militate  against  vigorous 
administration.  For  instance,  a  municipal  auditor's 
office  with  ten  or  twelve  men  under  American  conditions, 
might  have  fifteen  or  sixteen  in  a  corresponding  Canadian 
or  British  city.  The  attitude  is  perhaps  that  of  the  old, 
conservative  business  rather  than  that  of  modern  manage- 
ment. 

"Dawson,  W.  H.,  "Municipal  Government  and  Life  in  Ger- 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS  99 


VI.     Results   of  American   Experience 

American  cities  have  unquestionably  used  certain 
types  of  experts  in  the  past.  This  use  and  the 
permanency  with  which  the  incumbents  hold  office  is  un- 
doubtedly increasing.  Matching  the  progress  already 
made  in  private  business,  specialists  in  the  various  func- 
tions of  city  government  are  being  trained.  The  move- 
ment for  standardization  of  employment  which  has  been 
added  to  the  civil  service  program  in  recent  years  is  a 
potent  influence  for  definite  standards  and  qualifications 
for  various  municipal  services. 

Trained  men  from  the  older  professions  of  law, 
medicine  and  pedagogy  have  been  employed  even  under 
American  elective  administrative  organizations.  They 
have  not,  however,  been  permanent  save  in  cases  of 
special  merit  and  because  of  the  influence  of  independent 
boards  and  civil  service  restrictions. 

Technical  specialists  from  the  engineering  groups  have 
followed  the  professional  men  into  the  service  of  city 
governments.  The  permanent  city  engineer  is  not  at 
all  uncommon  in  many  towns  and  the  same  is  true  of  men 
in  charge  of  municipal  public  utiHties.  The  engineering 
experts  have  further  been  made  available  by  the  fact 
that  most  public  works  are  done  by  contract  and  it  has 
been  possible  to  build  up  in  private  service  a  body  of 
men  who  can  be  drafted  into  the  municipal  service. 
Public  service  corporations  have  also  hired  engineers 
requiring  training  similar  to  that  of  city  engineers.  This 
has  given  members  of  the  profession  an  opportunity  to 
enter  allied  fields  without  being  dependent  on  the  cities 
for  their  entire  livelihood.^^ 

"  Cf.  Chapter  XXIV,  Professional  Ethics  of  Public  Service, 


100       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Political  Interference  in  Expert  Matters. — Of  the 

three  types  of  experts  which  have  come  into  the  service 
of  American  municipalities,  the  older  professions  seem 
in  general  to  have  had  the  least  interference  from  the 
legislative  and  advisory  branches  of  the  government  in 
the  actual  work  of  administration.  The  city  attorney's 
word  and  opinion  have  been  literally  "law."  Health 
officers  also  have  generally  been  able  to  get  the  ordinances 
and  grants  of  powers  necessary  to  advance  effectively 
public  health  activities. 

The  engineers  have  fared  almost  as  well  so  far  as 
legislative  interference  is  concerned.  The  work  of  the 
technical  men  casts  about  it  a  glow  of  mystery  which  the 
average  alderman  is  bound  to  respect  from  considerations 
of  sheer  ignorance.  Even  the  technician,  however,  has 
his  troubles.  But  recently  the  engineer  in  charge  of  a 
municipal  street  lighting  system  after  a  month's  study 
decided  upon  a  certain  type  of  tower  wagon  for  making 
renewals  in  the  various  light  standards.  He  took  the 
matter  up  with  the  council  and  it  was  referred  to  a 
committee.  Funds  had  already  been  appropriated,  there 
was  no  question  but  that  a  tower  wagon  was  needed  to 
operate  the  system,  but  the  consent  of  the  council  was 
necessary  to  allow  the  purchase  without  buying  on  formal 
contract  from  the  lowest  bidder.  It  took  just  six  weeks 
before  the  city  fathers  were  finally  convinced  that  the 
engineer  knew  what  he  was  talking  about. 

It  is,  however,  the  "administrative  experts"  who  have 
to  fight  continuously  to  maintain  their  departments  on 
a  "war  footing."  Every  American,  particularly  if  he  be 
an  alderman,  imagines  himself  eminently  capable  of  pass- 
ing judgment  on  any  of  the  many  problems  of  business 
organization  and  administration.     As  a  result,  he  must 


PRESENT  USE '  OF  'lEXtERTS 


lOI 


be  shown — clearly  and  in  detkil-^the  why  and  wherefore 
of  each  entire  system. 

Administrative  science  is  still  so  much  in  its  infancy 
that  an  accountant  remains  in  the  eyes  of  the  politicians 
and  the  bulk  of  their  constituents  a  mere  bookkeeper ;  the 
purchasing  agent,  a  clerk. 

VII.     Proper  Use  of  Administrators 

Mobilizing  the  Experts  through  Staff  Organization. 
— To  get  the  fullest  service  out  of  municipal  experts, 
mobilization  is  necessary.  It  is  extremely  rare  that  the 
head  of  one  department  is  not  able  to  contribute  from 
time  to  time  valuable  suggestions  as  to  the  operation  of 
others  as  well  as  to  the  operation  of  staff  functions. 


o^MfTAfs/zr  o/-  /tuecMses. 


Mobilization  Must  Be  Effected  through  Staff  Or- 
ganization.— A  recent  experiment  in  directing  central 
contracting  for  supplies  in  the  city  of  Milwaukee  has 
shown  the  value  of  a  central  administrative  organization. 
This  organization,  known  as  the  central  purchasing  com- 


I02       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

mittee,«  Ws  ah  Wtra-legaT  functional  organization  repre- 
senting the  various  independent  divisions  which  comprise 
over  half  the  city  government  together  with  the  principal 
heads  of  city  departments.^*  The  members,  excepting  the 
mayor  who  acted  as  chairman,  were  the  actual  and  more 
or  less  permanent  administrative  heads  of  the  big  de- 
partments. Each  one  brought  a  distinct  contribution  to 
the  organization. 

The  new  Cleveland  "federal"  charter  aims  at  a 
similar  result  in  its  "mayor's  cabinet"  feature.  An  organ- 
ization of  this  type,  however,  is  apt  to  be  more  like  the 
president's  cabinet  than  a  body  of  actual  administrative 
experts  since  the  heads  are  dependent  on  an  elective 
mayor  and  have  no  status  as  permanent  department  heads. 

Controlling  Municipal  Experts. — Both  the  English 
and  the  continental  systems  provide  for  some  functional 
control  over  the  expert  head  of  a  department.  They  do 
not  trust  to  a  single  mayor  to  supervise  the  widely 
diversified  functions  under  his  control;  neither  do  they 
leave  the  matter  to  a  small  council  or  commission  to 
"spread"  itself  over  the  entire  field  of  municipal  problems. 
They  do  provide  a  distinct  committee,  board,  or  com- 
mission to  meet  with  and  check  up  the  expert  in  charge 
of  each  function  and  to  give  him  a  point  of  contact  with 
the  council  and  with  the  citizens.  Thus  there  is  an  ad- 
visory organization  for  Public  Works,  Welfare,  Safety, 
Education  and  the  others.  Each  important  function  has 
its  controlling  commission. 

Municipal  England  makes  this  body  a  council  commit- 
tee the  membership  of  which  is  largely  permanent.  Each 
committee  in  effect  specializes  on  one  function  and  its 

"  Made  a  part  of  the  city  government  by  legislation  in  1917 
(Chap.  412,  Laws  of  1917). 


PRESENT  USE  OF  EXPERTS  103 

recommendations  generally  made  on  the  experts'  advice 
are  usually  accepted  by  the  council. 

In  Germany  a  deputation  or  commission  composed  of 
council  members  and  certain  citizens  is  the  "controller" 
of  the  expert.  Citizen  members  serve  for  long  terms 
and  often  become  very  helpful  not  so  much  in  advising 
the  expert  as  in  interpreting  and  furthering  his  policies. 
The  deputation  development  is  perhaps  the  one  basic 
reason  for  the  effectiveness  of  expert  administration  in 
German  cities. 

The  American  cousin  of  the  invaluable  German  deputa- 
tion or  British  departmental  committee  is  the  much 
condemned  citizen  or  citizen-alderman  board  or  commis- 
sion. Independent  boards  have  deserved  their  condemna- 
tion for  many  sins,  but  their  sins  are  not  those  connected 
intimately  with  the  hiring  of  expert  service. 

It  seems  very  strange  that  so  essential  a  feature  as  the 
control  of  each  major  department  and  its  expert  head  by 
some  citizen  commission  or  council  committee  should  be 
absent  from  practically  all  of  the  American  "ideal" 
schemes.  Our  one  slogan  has  been  to  "put  all  our  eggs 
in  one  basket  and  watch  the  basket."  We  have  left  out 
of  account  the  fact  that  there  is  a  distinct  value  in  the 
cooperation  of  our  citizens  in  and  with  the  government. 
We  also  forget  that  municipal  business  is  so  diversified 
that  it  is  a  full  time  job  to  comprehend  what  is  being  done 
and  to  judge  of  it. 

Future  Developments. — There  is  already  developed 
in  the  United  States  a  strong  sentiment  for  centralized 
city  government.  We  can  also  trace  a  healthy  desire  for 
expertness  in  administration  and  for  the  separation  of 
administrative  from  legislative  affairs.     In  one  respect. 


I04       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

however,  our  program  needs  amplifying.  We  need  a 
better  developed  plan  for  keeping  in  touch  with  our 
experts  to  interpret  their  work  to  our  public  and  to  aid 
them  in  carrying  out  their  programs. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  MUNICIPAL  SERVICE 
TRAINING 

I.  Theoretical  Instruction 

CONSIDERING  the  importance  of  the  city  in  our 
national  economy,  whether  viewed  from  the  political, 
economic,  or  in  the  widest  sense,  social  viewpoint,  the 
amount  of  attention  it  receives  in  our  educational  institu- 
tions is  comparatively  insignificant.  When  we  note  the 
rapid  urbanization  of  our  population  in  its  historical  and 
its  contemporary  aspects,  this  neglect  of  so  important  a 
study  amazes  us.  The  movement  has  been  developing 
long  enough  so  that  adequate  adjustments  could  be  made. 
Perhaps  this  is  merely  saying  in  other  words  that  our 
universities  are  conservative.  This  might  have  been  ex- 
pected. But  not  now.  Universities  are  public  institutions, 
however  they  may  be  endowed,  and  have  a  social  mis- 
sion. To  help  cities  in  the  many  problems  that  have 
accompanied  the  increasing  urbanization  of  our  popula- 
tion is  an  obvious  social  duty,  and  should  be  a  welcome 
opportunity  for  service.  To  what  extent  the  educational 
agencies  are  accepting  this  opportunity  is  the  subject  of 
this  chapter. 

The  character  of  the  assistance  the  universities  may 
render  is  threefold.     The  members  of  the  faculty  may 

105 


io6       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

render  expert  assistance  to  the  cities  through  a  municipal 
reference  library,  through  an  advisory  service,  through 
the  conduct  of  surveys  or  in  cooperation  therewith,  and 
by  personal  cooperation  in  the  administration  of  govern- 
ment. 

There  are  two  other  ways,  which  are  important  from 
the  viewpoint  of  this  book,  that  universities  can  assist 
cities  in  attaining  popular  government.  They  are  train- 
ing administrators  for  public  service  and  training  citizens 
to  an  appreciation  of  expert  service.  The  success  of 
expert  city  government  is  dependent  on  both  of  these 
things — and  both  of  these  things  must  be  carried  along 
together. 

The  character  of  the  instruction  in  our  educational 
institutions,  elementary  schools,  high  schools,  colleges  and 
universities,  is  of  tremendous  importance  because  the 
appreciations  and  points  of  view  of  the  body  of  our 
citizenship  are  determined  to  a  considerable  degree  by 
this  instruction.  It  is  for  that  reason  that  it  is  necessary, 
in  the  words  of  Helmholtz,  that  what  you  would  have  in 
your  nation  you  must  first  put  into  your  schools.  In  our 
present  educational  system  the  influence  of  the  university 
is  very  great.  Its  graduates  write  the  text  books  for  all 
schools.  It  trains  the  superintendents  of  schools  and  the 
teachers  of  secondary  schools  and  it  will  train  more  and 
more  in  the  future  the  teachers  of  the  elementary  schools. 
It  exercises  a  peculiar  sway  over  the  imagination  of  those 
in  the  lower  schools  who  do  not  come  under  its  influence. 
It  is  for  all  these  reasons  that  the  discussion  of  instruc- 
tion in  municipal  government  is  in  this  connection  con- 
fined to  the  colleges.  The  points  made  are  applicable 
fairly  generally  to  the  lower  schools. 

Another  reason  for  this  discussion  of  instruction  in 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     107 

government  is  that  it  forms  the  foundation  studies  for 
the  training  of  experts.  In  its  content  and  in  its  method 
it  is  going  to  determine  the  attitude  01  the  future  public 
servant  toward  his  technical  duties. 

The  Amount  of  Instruction  in  Municipal  Govern- 
ment in  Colleges  and  Universities. — The  first  question 
that  naturally  suggests  itself  is:  What  is  the  actual 
amount  of  instruction  in  political  science,  and  particularly 
in  municipal  government  that  is  offered  ?  The  preliminary 
report  of  the  Committee  of  Seven  of  the  American  Po- 
litical Science  Association  on  "Instruction  in  Political 
Science  in  Colleges  and  Universities"^  prints  a  table  that 
is  rather  startling.  Of  458  colleges  and  universities  in 
this  country  from  whom  data  was  received  only  91  give 
separate  courses  in  naunicipal  government.  And  the 
number  of  hours  of  instruction  that  these  91  institutions 
give  is  5,938,  or  the  equivalent  of  66  hours  a  year  for 
each  institution,  or  in  still  other  words,  one  course  a 
year  for  two  hours  a  week!  Remembering  that  this  is 
an  average,  how  much  work  can  those  who  fall  below  the 
average  give?  Most  institutions  rely  on  the  incidental 
treatment  of  municipal  government  in  their  general 
courses  in  American  government.  The  comparative 
emphasis  on  municipal  government  may  be  seen  in  the 
complete  table  which  is  printed  below. 

*The  preliminary  report  was  printed  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
American  Political  Science  Association,  Volume  X,  pp.  249-270. 
Another  report  was  printed  in  the  American  Political  Science 
Review  for  May,  1915,  pp.  355  ff.  The  complete  report  of  the 
Committee  has  been  published  under  the  title  "The  Teaching  of 
Government,"  Macmillan,  1916,  The  volume  covers  the  teach- 
ing of  government  in  the  secondary  schools  and  in  the  colleges 
and  universities  and  contains  in  the  appendix  a  report  on  the 
teaching  of  civics  in  the  elementary  and  secondary  schools. 


io8       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Table  No.  I 

The  various  subjects  included  in  political  science 
taught  in  458  American  colleges  and  universities  with  the 
number  of  institutions  teaching  each  subject  and  the  total 
number  of  hours  of  instruction  given.^ 


Subject 


United  States  constitutional  history 

English  constitutional  history 

Total 

1 .  Constitutional  Law 

2.  American  government 

National,  state  and  local 

National 

National,  state,  local  and  municipal 

State  and  local 

State,|local  and  municipal 

Municipal  government 

3.  General  political  science 

4.  Comparative  government 

English  government 

5.  International  law 

6.  Diplomacy 

7.  Jurisprudence 

8.  Roman  law 

9.  Party  government 

10.  Political  theories 

11.  Colonial  government 

12.  Commercial  law 

13.  Legislative  methods  and  procedure.  .  . 

14.  Seminar 


Total 
Hours 


14,076 
12,298 


Institu- 
tions 


160 
144 


26,374 


4,446 

10,809 
2,786 
1,488 
2,520 
504 
5,938 
8,646 

10,089 
2,334 
8,191 
3,840 
3,291 
1.158 
2,030 
3,120 
1,218 
2,488 
1,590 
786 


63 

168 

39 

20 

40 

9 

91 

141 

138 

34 

151 

49 

55 

17 

42 

43 
22 

42 

23 

37 


It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  too,  that  this  list  of  courses 
includes  courses  offered  and  not  necessarily  given.  And 
it  must  also  be  remembered  that  these  courses  are  not 
very  frequently  required  courses  and  that  a  student  may 

"Proceedings  of  the  American  Political  Science  Association, 
Vol.  X,  p.  250. 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     109 

pass  through  the  college  or  university  without  taking 
them. 


Instruction  in  Government  in  Professional  Schools. 

— There  is  one  finding  of  the  Committee  that  deserves 
special  attention  by  educational  authorities  and  profes- 
sional men  in  this  country.  The  Committee  has  put  the 
case  so  aptly  and  conclusively  that  its  words  may  be 
quoted  in  full : 

"Colleges  of  mines,  agricultural  colleges,  and  schools 
of  technology  form  a  group  under  which  the  courses 
offered  must  be  scientific  and  practical.  These  schools 
are  primarily  designed  to  prepare  for  one  of  the  profes- 
sions or  vocations  and  there  seems  to  be  neither  time 
nor  occasion  to  give  attention  to  such  an  impractical 
matter  as  government.  If  one  may  judge  from  the  utter 
neglect  of  the  study  of  political  affairs  in  many  such 
schools  it  seems  that  there  is  at  present  no  recognition 
of  the  fact  that  the  incipient  miner,  farmer  or  engineer 
may  some  day  be  called  upon  to  take  an  interest  in  the 
affairs  of  his  country.  Nor  does  there  seem  to  be  any 
thought  that  it  might  be  worth  while,  for  but  a  small 
portion  of  time,  to  learn  of  the  responsibilities  and  duties 
of  social  beings  as  well  as  of  ways  and  means  to  earn 
a  livelihood.  That  the  miner,  the  farmer  and  the 
engineer  should  receive  training  along  the  line  of  their 
duties  and  responsibilities  as  social  beings  and  citizens 
seems  scarcely  less  imperative  than  that  they  should  be 
trained  as  efficient  producers.  There  is  ample  evidence 
that  the  efficient  producer  without  a  social  conscience 
has  worked  much  havoc  and  injury.  If  society  is  to  be 
protected  and  its  best  interests  conserved,  the  scientific, 
industrial  and  so-called  practical  schools  must  find  both 
time  and  opportunity  to  give  instruction  in  economics. 


no       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

sociology  and  political  science.  Both  economics  and 
sociology  have  slowly  made  their  way  into  many  of  the 
technical  and  vocational  schools.  A  few  technical  schools 
and  agricultural  colleges  have  introduced  the  important 
elementary  courses  in  government,  and  there  is  no  indica- 
tion that  the  standard  of  work  in  technology  has  suffered 
particularly  because  the  curriculum  has  been  enriched  by 
courses  in  political  and  social  affairs.  It  remains  to  be 
seen  whether  society  as  organized  in  its  legislatures, 
courts  and  administrative  agencies  will  become  a  matter 
of  sufficient  significance  to  be  given  some  consideration 
in  all  of  the  technical  schools  and  may  be  deemed  worthy 
of  more  attention  by  that  group  of  institutions  which 
depend  almost  entirely  upon  the  state  for  existence."  ^ 

This  failure  of  professional  schools  to  give  work  in 
the  political  and  the  other  social  sciences  is  significant 
both  from  the  standpoint  of  citizenship,  and  of  training 
for  public  service.  Our  immediate  concern  is  with  the 
latter.  With  the  expanding  scope  of  governmental 
activity,  increasing  numbers  of  technical  and  other  pro- 
fessional men  are  called  into  the  public  service.  While 
they  may  be  able  to  perform  the  technical  service  re- 
quired of  them,  they  fail  to  see  its  larger  import  and  its 
social  potentialities.  The  service  becomes  mechanical. 
They  become  cogs  in  a  vast  administrative  machine  that 
keeps  things  going  in  the  usual  way — and  that  is  all. 
The  public  servant  in  the  future  must  see  the  vital 
significance  of  government  in  modern  business,  in  in- 
dustry, in  society.  He  must  see  himself  as  helping  to 
give  direction  to  this  great  force.  He  must  be  in  part, 
at  least,  sociologist.  Government  must  be  more  adaptable 
to  human  needs  and  it  is  his  job  to  help  make  it  so — 

'Proceedings  of  the  American  Political  Science  Association, 
pp.  253-254. 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     in 

that  IS,  just  the  opposite  of  bureaucratic.  The  universities 
with  their  abstract  social  sciences  are  not  giving  the 
young  men  the  social  vision  of  government.  In  the 
professional  schools  as  shown  above  they  are  even  omit- 
ting to  give  them  any  knowledge  of  government. 

The  Neglect  of  Administration  in  College  Courses. 

— When  these  courses  of  study  are  examined  with 
reference  to  the  content  there  are  discovered  certain 
fundamental  defects.  From  the  standpoint  of  this  book 
the  major  one  seems  to  be  that  too  great  emphasis  is 
placed  on  the  structure  of  government  as  distinct  from 
its  function,  or  in  other  words,  that  organization  is  the 
main  interest  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  administration. 
This  is  natural.  This  is  the  line  of  least  resistance. 
One  may  remain  in  the  college  library  and  find  practically 
all  he  needs  to  know  about  organization,  but  what  should 
be  included  in  Professor  Hart's  fortunate  term,  "actual 
government,"  requires  field  study  and  observation  in 
the  city  hall,  in  the  municipal  building,  in  the  local  courts, 
in  the  local  shops  where  health  and  other  laws  are 
enforced  or  violated.  It  was  for  this  reason,  we  think, 
that  the  Committee  of  Seven  made  its  most  vital  recom- 
mendation :  "That  an  effort  be  made  to  redistribute  the 
emphasis  in  courses  ia  government  so  as  to  give  less 
attention  proportionately  to  governmental  structure  and 
legislation  and  to  devote  more  time  and  emphasis  to 
administrative  methods  and  law  enforcement.'* 

The  question  has  been  seriously  raised:  Is  not  this 
emphasis  on  the  law  enforcing  agencies  and  on  the  actual 
substance  and  process  of  government  moving  in  the 
direction  of  glorifying  petty  details  and  neglecting,  if 
not  forgetting,  the  principles  and  foundations  on  which 
government  may  endure  and  prosper  ?    Dear  old  immut- 


112       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

able  and  eternal  principles  of  government!  As  if  the 
framework  and  organization  of  government  were 
peculiarly  the  incarnation  of  these  principles,  and  as  if 
this  framework  had  any  significance  except  as  it  functions 
in  the  actual  situation  in  that  big,  buzzing,  blooming  con- 
fusion we  call  contemporary  life.  In  training  for  the 
public  service  the  emphasis  on  administration  and  law 
enforcement  is  vital. 

The  Preference  for  Abstract  Principles  of  Govern- 
ment.— In  another  connection  in  the  preliminary  re- 
port these  college  professors  have  well  characterized  the 
tendencies  and  the  spirit  of  higher  instruction  which 
keeps  it  snugly  in  the  field  of  governmental  organization 
rather  than  governmental  administration.  The  Commit- 
tee says :  "The  function  of  college  instruction  in  politics 
is  to  train  for  citizenship  as  well  as  to  train  for  the 
professions.  In  performing  this  function  colleges  too 
frequently  confine  attention  almost  exclusively  to  the 
theories  of  the  origin  of  the  state  and  the  nature  of  law 
and  sovereignty,  in  fact,  to  a  consideration  of  abstract 
notions  and  principles  which  find  scant  place  in  the 
actual  operation  of  governmental  affairs." 

Again,  "Students  of  politics,  like  those  of  other  fields, 
have  been  inclined  to  philosophize  and  work  out  abstract 
principles  rather  than  to  search  laboriously  the  records 
and  activities  of  society  in  its  myriad  and  complex 
operations." 

The   Method  of   Instruction   Is   Too     Academic— 

The  method  of  instruction  reflects  in  an  overwhelming 
degree  the  dominance  of  the  academic  tradition.  The 
appeal  is  to  the  library,  to  the  book,  to  the  report  rather 
than  to  the  thing  itself.  The  objection  was  seriously 
made  in  a  national  association  of  college  professors  to  a 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     113 

proposal  that  academic  credit  be  given  for  field  train- 
ing in  economics  that  it  was  not  academic.  The  question 
was  then  put  in  another  form:  Suppose,  for  example, 
that  Professor  Ordinarius  was  a  member  of  a  state 
industrial  commission  and  university  students  were 
assigned  to  him,  would  you  give  credit  for  work  done  in 
connection  with  actual  problems  done  there  under  Pro- 
fessor Ordinarius'  direction?  The  negative  answer  was 
given.  One  wonders  what  the  peculiar  virtue  or  sanctity 
of  the  university  atmosphere  consists  of. 

The  lecture  method  is  still  used  to  a  considerable! 
degree,  despite  the  fact  that  every  pedagogical  considera- 
tion condemns  it  as  a  general  method  of  instruction.  The 
seminar  method  is  perverted.  Instead  of  being  a  con- 
ference method  developing  critical  discussion,  it  degener- 
ates into  a  student  droning  away  for  an  hour  or  two  a 
paper  it  has  taken  him  months  to  prepare,  followed  by 
a  few  hasty  questions  by  the  other  students  before  the 
bell  rings. 

The  requirements  that  students  should  have  had  an 
adequate  experience  to  build  upon  and  to  serve  as  a  basis 
of  interpretation  of  the  printed  symbols  is  neglected  in 
practically  all  our  higher  education.  The  demand  that 
theoretical  instruction  should  run  alongside  of  practice 
and  interpret  it  and  give  it  wider  meaning  is  almost 
totally  neglected. 

Additional  Suggestions  Regarding  College  Instruc- 
tion in  Government. — The  academic  tradition  with  its 
accompanying  formal  discipline  is  still  dominant  in  our 
educational  institutions,  but  shows  signs  of  disintegrat- 
ing. Before  any  serious  effort  is  made  to  train  men  for 
the  municipal  service  the  universities  must  be  convinced 
that  their  function  is  wider  than  teaching  the  students 


114       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

who  come  to  them.  There  needs  to  be  a  correlative 
change  on  the  part  of  the  public,  too : — namely,  an  appre- 
ciation of  expert  service  and  welcoming  of  it  in  the 
solution  of  social  problems. 

What  is  needed  in  improving  the  theoretical  instruction 
in  government  and  in  social  work  generally  has  been 
suggested  by  the  Committee  of  Seven.  One  would  have 
to  be  excessively  optimistic  to  believe  that  these  sugges- 
tions, which  are  quoted  below,  represent  the  general 
opinions  of  professors  of  political  science.  Unfortunately 
they  do  not.  But  on  the  other  hand,  no  one  acquainted 
with  the  situation  will  deny  that  the  suggestions  made  in 
this  Committee  report  should  be  adopted  if  colleges  really 
wish  to  give  their  students  a  workable  understanding  of 
government  so  that  they  may  better  perform  their  duties 
as  citizens  or  give  them  the  groundwork  for  professional 
training  for  public  service.  The  additional  suggestions 
are: 

1.  That  departments  establish  research  bureaus  and  aim 
to  keep  in  touch  with  government  in  actual  operation  in 
townships,  cities,  counties,  state  and  nation,  and  that  stu- 
dents be  trained  to  study  definite  problems. 

2.  That  more  frequent  use  be  made  of  newspapers  and 
periodicals  for  illustrations  of  the  dynamics  of  government. 

3.  That  text  books  be  prepared  which  give  more  empha- 
sis to  functions  and  statistics  and  deal  more  fully  with  state 
and  local  government.  Good  outlines  should  also  be  pre- 
pared with  suggestions  for  gathering  and  using  concrete  ma- 
terial, and  for  doing  observational  and  practical  work. 

4.  That  laboratory  work  and  the  assignment  of  practical 
problems  for  student  reports  should  be  more  largely  used 
by  all  instructors  in  political  science. 

5.  That  college  teaching  gives  too  much  emphasis  to 
functions  of  government  before  giving  adequate  knowledge 
of  framework. 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     115 

6.  That  much  time  is  wasted  in  giving  highly  attenuated 
theoretical  and  speculative  courses.* 

II.  The  Trend  toward  Effective  Theoretical 
Instruction  * 

But  despite  the  dominance  of  the  academic  tradition 
there  is  a  strong  counter-movement.  It  finds  expression 
in  the  establishment  of  bureaus  of  municipal  research  and 
reference,  of  university  extension  departments,  of 
bureaus  of  city  tests,  of  calling  in  public  administrators 
to  talk  to  college  students,  of  fellowships  to  deal  with 
practical  problems,  and  in  the  character  of  doctors'  dis- 
sertations.    These  may  be  illustrated  briefly. 

The  first  step  is  taken  when  the  home  city  ,or  the 
local  city  is  made  the  subject  of  study.  The  study  of 
the  near-at-hand  and  this  desire  for  contact  with  actual 
government  and  actual  conditions  take  various  forms. 
Its  simplest  form  is  to  have  men  who  are  holding  public 
offices  and  doing  things  for  the  public  welfare  tell  of 
their  experience.  For  example,  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia gives  a  course : 

114.  Problems  of  the  State.  Associate  Professor  Reed. 
A  series  of  fourteen  lectures  by  men  actually  engaged  in 
their  solution,     i  hour,  first  half-year.     Tu.  4. 

Another  form  that  this  desire  for  contact  with  actual 
conditions  takes  is  student  inspection  tours.  This  is 
evidently  followed  in  a  course  in  the  University  of 
Minnesota. 

12b.  Economic  Conditions  in  American  Cities,  Mr.  Les- 
cohier.    Three  credits  (3  hours  per  week)  ;  second  semes- 

*  Proceedings  of  the  American  Political  Science  Association, 

pp.  255  ff. 

^  See  Report  of  the  Committee  on  Practical  Training  for  Pub- 
lic Service,  American  Political  Science  Association,  1913. 


Ii6       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

ter.  Open  to  juniors,  seniors,  and  graduate  students  who 
have  completed  Course  12a.  The  causes  of  economic  de- 
pendence in  American  cities;  the  standard  of  living;  and 
the  constructive  agencies  for  economic  betterment.  Lec- 
tures, assigned  readings,  and  visits  of  inspection  in  the  Twin 
Cities. 

The  course  on  labor  problems  preliminary  to  the  course 
on  "Economic  Conditions  in  American  Cities"  is  a  little 
higher  form  of  the  desire  to  give  students  actual  contact 
with  conditions.  It  requires  investigation  of  local  con- 
ditions. A  course  in  New  York  University  is  described 
as  follows: 

III.  Economic  Readjustment.  A  study  of  several  prob- 
lems, social  as  well  as  economic,  growing  out  of  the  neces- 
sity for  continual  readjustment  to  changing  economic  con- 
ditions. Special  study  will  be  made  of  the  forces  deter- 
mining the  standard  of  living,  the  efficiency  of  labor,  eu- 
genics, the  control  of  monopoly  and  the  survival  of  com- 
petition. The  seminar  method  of  individual  research  will 
be  followed,  New  York  City  being  regarded  as  an  eco- 
nomic laboratory.  2  hours.  Tuesday,  4-6.  Professor 
Powell. 

Another  way  of  securing  the  contact  with  actual 
government  and  actual  conditions  is  to  have  a  student 
begin  his  study  of  a  subject  in  a  course  and  have  him 
supplement  it  later.  A  more  practicable  method  of  doing 
this  with  reference  to  local  conditions  is  the  requirement 
that  a  study  of  these  conditions  be  made  during  the 
summer  vacation,  as  required  at  the  University  of  Chi- 
cago, College  of  Commerce  and  Administration. 

A  further  step  in  connection  with  individual  courses 
is  to  give  it  over  in  whole  or  in  part  to  an  investigation 
of  actual  conditions.     In  the  catalogue  of  the  University 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     117 

of  California  there  is  announced  a  course  in  municipal 
administration : 

208.     Municipal     Administration,     Associate      Professor 
Reed.     Investigation  of  actual   problems  of  municipal   ad- 
ministration.   Hours  and  credit  to  be  arranged. 
i 

In  some  cases  this  work  is  done  in  Go6peration\  with 
outside  agencies  doing  work  in  the  field.  Such  a  course 
is  given  at  the  University  of  Minnesota. 

32.  Seminar  in  Labor  Problems.  Six  credits  (3  hours 
per  week)  ;  both  semesters.  Open  to  seniors  and  graduate 
students  who  have  completed  courses  12a  or  13  and  12b. 
No  credit  is  given  unless  both  semesters  are  completed. 

Original  investigation  and  research,  conducted  in  co- 
operation with  the  various  agencies  interested  in  promoting 
investigation  of  labor  problems,  afford  training  for  practical 
work  in  the  field  of  the  labor  problem. 

In  the  University  of  Wisconsin  specific  arrangements 
are  made  as  in  course  142b. 

142b.  Research  in  Public  Utilities.  In  cooperation  with 
the  Wisconsin  railroad  commission.  Provision  is  made  for 
the  personal  study  of  special  "utility"  and  transportation 
problems.  Each  student  shall  prepare  an  essay  which  may 
be  journalistic  in  character  or  may  meet  the  requirements 
of  a  senior  thesis.  For  seniors  and  graduates.  Throughout 
the  year ;  hours  to  be  arranged,  two  credits.  Mr.  Hess.  Mr. 
Gruhl. 

The  final  step  is  from  investigating  the  thing  to 
actually  doing  it.  The  only  field  where  this  is  done  at 
the  present  time,  so  far  as  could  be  discovered,  is  that 
of  legislative  drafting.  Here  actual  measures  are  drawn. 
Course  33  at  the  University  of  Nebraska  is  such  a 
course. 


Ii8   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Practical  Legislation:  Nebraska  Problems — Introductory- 
study  of  Nebraska's  historical  development,  social,  political, 
constitutional.  Present  problems  in  Nebraska  law-making 
and  administration.  Subject-matter  and  methods  of  legis- 
lation. Drafting  and  criticism  of  legislative  bills  and  in- 
formation briefs  in  cooperation  with  Nebraska  Legislative 
Reference  Department.  Practice  work  at  state  house  dur- 
ing legislative  session,  January  to  April  of  odd  numbered 
years.  2  hours'  attendance.  2  hours'  credit.  First  semes- 
ter.   Given  in  1914-15.    Credited  in  the  College  of  Law. 

Universities  are  beginning  to  -perceive  that  doctors'  dis- 
sertations may  be  made  means  of  giving  men  contact  with 
actual  conditions  and  of  interesting  them  in  public  ad- 
ministration. Graduate  students  have  occasionally  been 
given  positions  in  the  public  service  because  of  their 
dissertations. 

As  furnishing  the  necessary  groundwork  for  specific 
training  for  the  public  service  or  for  stimulating  men 
to  undertake  public  service  as  a  career,  fellowships  may 
be  effectively  used.  A  type  of  fellowship  likely  to 
secure  these  results  is  the  research  fellowship  for  study 
of  problems  of  urban  growth  at  the  University  of 
California. 

Mr.  F.  M.  Smith  of  Oakland,  California,  has  established 
a  research  fellowship  for  investigation  of  certain  problems 
incident  to  the  growth  of  cities  in  the  San  Francisco  Bay 
region.  .  Attention  is  directed  especially  to  questions  relat- 
ing to  the  development  of  parks,  playgrounds,  and  other 
community  interests  demanding  particular  consideration  of 
space  available  for  growth.® 

'The  Committee  on  Instruction  in  Municipal  Government  of 
the  National  Municipal  League  has  during  the  past  sixteen  years 
made  six  surveys  of  the  status  of  instruction  in  municipal  gov- 
ernment in  American  universities.  The  latest  of  these  is  pub- 
lished in  the  October,  1916,  number  of  the  National  Municipal 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     119 

III.    The  Need  for  a  Training  School  for 
Municipal  Service 

President  LrOwell  in  his  book  on  "Public  Opinion  and 
Popular  Government"  has  clearly  pointed  out  the  need 
for  training  men  specifically  for  municipal  administration. 
His  words  are : 

We  no  longer  believe  in  America  to-day  that  a  man  who 
has  shown  himself  fairly  clever  at  something  else,  is  thereby 
qualified  to  manage  a  railroad,  a  factory,  or  a  bank.  Are 
we  better  justified  in  assuming  that  an  election  by  popular 
vote,  or  an  appointment  by  a  chief  magistrate,  confers,  with- 
out apprenticeship,  an  immediate  capacity  to  construct  the 

Review,  p.  565,  and  readers  of  this  chapter  ought  to  consult  that 
report.  A  brief  statement  by  the  National  Municipal  League  on 
this  subject  is  given  in  a  footnote  with  reference  to  the  places 
where  the  surveys  of  the  Committee  may  be  found.  The  extraor- 
dinary comparative  advance  made  in  instruction  in  municipal 
government,  both  as  to  quantity  and  quality,  can  perhaps  best  be 
seen  from  these  surveys.  The  latest  report,  signed  by  Professor 
Munro  as  Chairman,  makes  four  points  which  emphasize  the 
content  of  this  chapter:  (i)  That  there  is  a  steady  increase  in 
quantity  of  instruction  in  municipal  government,  (2)  that  there 
is  an  improvement  in  methods  of  instruction  by  the  use  of  a 
great  deal  of  concrete  material,  not  available  heretofore,  by  a 
subordination  of  the  lecture  method  to  methods  that  call  into 
play  the  self -activity  of  pupils,  (3)  the  use  of  the  research  and 
reference  bureau  as  an  agency  of  instruction  providing  oppor- 
tunity for  practical  instruction,  and  (4)  the  endeavor  by  college 
professors  to  bring  students  into  contact  with  the  actual  machin- 
ery of  government.  As  an  appendix  to  this  report  there  is  a 
statistical  statement  from  one  hundred  and  forty-one  colleges 
and  universities  in  the  country  showing  the  number  of  courses, 
amount  of  time  given  to  these  courses,  and  the  number  of  under- 
graduates and  graduates  taking  these  courses  (i)  that  are 
wholly  devoted  to  municipal  government,  and  (2)  that  are 
partly  devoted  to  municipal  government. 


120   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

roads  and  bridges,  direct  the  education,  manage  the  finances, 
purify  the  water  supply,  or  dispose  of  the  sewage  of  a  large 
city;  and  this  when  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  person 
selected  will  not  remain  in  office  long  enough  to  learn  thor- 
oughly a  business  of  which  he  knows  little  or  nothing  at 
the  outset?  In  industrial  enterprise,  in  business  concerns, 
the  use  of  experts  of  all  kinds  is,  indeed,  constantly  in- 
creasing. They  have  revolutionized  some  industries,  and 
are  indispensable  in  many  more.  Nor  do  we  merely  seek 
for  men  who  have  gained  experience  in  practice.  In  one 
profession  after  another  we  have  learned  to  train  them 
carefully  in  the  theory  of  their  work,  taking  them  young 
and  educating  them  for  it  as  a  distinct  career.  Sixty  years 
ago,  for  example,  there  was  scarcely  a  school  of  applied 
science  in  the  country,  but  now  they  are  everywhere,  and 
they  can  hardly  turn  out  students  fast  enough  to  supply 
the  demand.  They  are  ever  adding  new  departments,  while 
our  universities  are  creating  new  specialized  schools,  and 
thus  adding  to  the  number  of  professions.  We  are  training 
men  to-day  for  all  services  but  that  of  the  public. 

However,  the  universities  of  the  country,  including 
Harvard,  are  making  at  the  present  time  practically  no 
effort  to  avail  themselves  of  the  glorious  opportunity 
pointed  out  by  President  Lowell.  This  need  of  American 
life  is  certainly  one  of  the  greatest  opportunities  for  a 
university  which  aims  to  serve  society.  The  facts  of 
contemporary  life  indicate  clearly  this  social  obligation 
of  the  university.    Yet  nothing  is  done. 

The  training  of  men  for  ordinary  commercial  service 
will  never  adequately  serve  to  train  men  for  public 
service.  A  different  point  of  view  must  be  given,  a 
different  emphasis,  a  different  content  in  public  service 
training,  even  where  superficially  a  public  servant  would 
be  required  to  do  exactly  the  same  thing  as  an  employee 
in  business.     Taking  a  number  of  courses  that  have  here- 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     121 

tofore  been  given  in  various  departments,  classifying 
them  under  the  heading,  "Courses  in  Municipal  Adminis- 
tration," and  giving  a  specialized  degree  for  these  courses 
is  not  an  adequate  way  of  training  men  for  public  service. 
It  may  be  foundation  work  but  unless  the  superstructure 
is  built  it  is  useless. 

The  real  solution  of  the  problem  has  been  worked  out 
at  the  University  of  Cincinnati  under  Dean  Schneider's 
direction.  There  from  the  moment  the  student  enters 
the  university  until  through  the  end  of  his  five  year 
course  he  is  brought  continually  in  contact  with  realities. 
He  acquires  a  real,  not  a  vicarious  experience.  This 
forms  the  basis  of  the  class-room  theory  and  discussion. 
The  class-room  theory  interprets  the  experience,  gives  it 
wider  meaning  and  helps  to  make  it  more  actively  edu- 
cative. There  is  the  proper  relation  between  theory  and 
practice;  theory  grows  out  of  practice  and  is  tested  by 
practice.  The  coordination  of  theory  and  practice  is  not 
an  accident  at  Cincinnati.  It  is  specifically  aimed  at  and 
machinery  is  organized  to  secure  it.  Apart  from  the 
provisions  in  the  course  of  study  the  most  important 
factor  in  effecting  this  coordination  of  theory  and  practice 
is  a  professor  of  coordination.  He  does  not  teach.  He 
visits  the  shops  and  the  class-rooms.  He  helps  students 
as  opportunity  affords  to  see  in  the  shop  the  relation  of 
points  they  missed  in  the  class-room.  He  is  continually 
suggesting  changes  in  courses  of  study,  new  problems, 
and  new  ways  of  doing  conventional  things.  He  is  an 
active  educational  agency,  educating  the  college  professors 
as  well  as  the  boys. 

The  great  failure  of  the  universities  in  connection  with 
training  men  for  public  service  is  the  failure  anywhere  to 
provide  organized  coordinated  theoretical  and  practical 
training  for  public  service.  Nowhere  in  the  United  States 


ii22       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

I 

I  is  there  a  training  school  for  public  service  in  connection 
■with  a  university.  Everywhere  there  is  need  for  the 
trained  public  servant.  The  universities  have  well 
established  law  schools,  medical  schools,  engineering 
schools  and  agricultural  colleges.  They  have  established 
separate  schools  for  the  training  of  business  men,  rank- 
ing in  dignity  with  the  others.  But  the  medical  schools 
do  not  provide  the  training  for  the  public  health  work.  The 
engineering  schools  do  not  provide  the  training  for  public 
works  administration.  The  law  schools  do  not  even 
recognize  that  they  may  do  anything  in  training  judges. 

The  only  field  of  public  service  in  which  there  is 
fairly  adequate  provision  for  training  is  in  the  field  of 
educational  administration.  It  is  a  rather  striking  fact, 
too,  that  the  two  schools  that  are  in  the  van  of  the 
movement  are  connected  with  privately  endowed  institu- 
tions— Teachers  College,  Columbia  University,  and  the 
School  of  Education  at  the  University  of  Chicago.  Even 
here  practically  no  attention  is  given  to  the  field  of 
^university  teaching  and  administration. 

The  best  that  can  be  said  at  the  present  time  is  that 
there  is  a  consciousness  of  the  problem  of  training  men 
for  public  service,  and  some  effort  is  being  expended  in 
trying  to  solve  it.  Presidents  Roosevelt  and  Taft  issued 
executive  orders  putting  the  consular  and  diplomatic 
service  on  a  merit  basis.  The  universities  responded  by 
establishing  courses.  It  probably  will  be  granted  that 
the  response  is  more  significant  as  a  sign  of  the  uni- 
versity's willingness  to  help,  than  of  a  practical  value  of 
the  courses  proposed.  Yale  and  Columbia  cooperate  in 
the  outlining  of  courses  in  preparation  for  the  foreign 
service  but  few  students  respond.  Harvard  and  the 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  cooperate  and 
organize  a  school  for  health  officers.     Both  steps  are 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     123 

applauded.  Chicago  is  striving  valiantly  to  work  out  the 
problem.  Texas  is  attempting  its  solution  in  the 
municipal  field.  But  to  find  anywhere  training  for 
public  service  on  a  level  with  the  training  for  the  pro- 
fessions or  for  private  business  is  not  possible. 

IV.     Training  for  the  Municipal  Service 

In  the  universities  there  have  been  several  noteworthy 
efforts  to  provide  practical  training  for  the  municipal 
service.  There  is  at  least  a  recognition  that  such  training 
is  desirable.  The  first  steps  have  been  taken.  In  the 
field  of  public  education  this  need  has  long  been  rec- 
ognized and  definite  provision  has  been  made.  The 
public  service  in  general  seems  likely  to  go  through  the 
same  phase  that  the  training  of  teachers  went  through. 
First  we  practically  permitted  anybody  to  teach  who  had 
a  friend  on  the  school  board;  then  we  required  some 
minimum  educational  qualifications;  then  we  introduced 
an  examination  system.  Finally  private  and  later  mu- 
nicipal institutions  made  the  training  of  teachers  a  specific 
function  of  one  of  their  departments.  Model  schools 
were  later  added  where  teachers  could  observe  the  things 
they  were  later  required  to  do.  This  was  perhaps  just  a 
weakness  of  human  nature  to  call  most  of  the  things  that 
were  observed  in  these  schools  model  lessons.  At  any 
rate  there  was  a  recognition  of  the  necessity  of  bringing 
the  student  in  contact  with  the  thing  that  he  was  to  do. 
Later  the  model  school  was  supplemented  or  replaced 
by  a  practice  school  and  finally,  as  in  the  New  York 
Training  School  for  Teachers,  the  whole  city  system  of 
schools  was  regarded  as  a  proper  field  for  practice  work 
in  teaching  under  adequate  supervision  and  adequate 
reporting.     In  training  men  for  public  administration  we 


124       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

have  just  taken  falteringly  the  first  few  steps.     Even  in 
these  we  are  not  certain  on  our  feet. 

Some  Steps  Taken  by  Universities.  — The  College 
of  Commerce  and  Administration  of  the  University  of 
Chicago  is  definitely  arranging  its  courses  with  reference 
to  specific  occupations  and  notably  among  these  the  public 
service.  The  work  of  the  college  is  grouped  into  three 
divisions:  (i)  Trade  and  industry  division  to  meet  the 
needs  of  persons  intending  to  take  up  business  pursuits  or 
to  enter  the  consular  service.  Preparation  for  commer- 
cial teaching  is  included  in  this  division.  (2)  The  chari- 
table and  philanthropic  division  to  meet  the  needs  of 
persons  intending  to  take  up  settlement  work,  social  re- 
search, the  work  of  charitable,  child  welfare  and  similar 
agencies;  and  (3)  the  public  service  division. 

With  reference  to  all  three  fields  the  catalogue  says: 

The  academic  spirit  (using  this  expression  in  the  objec- 
tionable sense)  is  guarded  against  by  introducing  a  consid- 
erable amount  of  contact  with  actual  conditions,  and  at 
least  one  vacation  period  is  to  be  spent  in  actual  service. 

The  work  of  the  public  service  division  is  best  described 
in  the  words  of  the  catalogue : 

The  courses  in  this  division  are  arranged  with  reference 
to  the  needs  of  those  who  wish  to  train  themselves  for  posi- 
tions in  the  governmental  agencies  which  have  to  do  with 
the  investigation,  regulation,  or  control  of  the  various  eco- 
nomic and  social  activities  of  the  day.  For  convenience  in 
arranging  the  curriculum,  social  work  in  industry,  although 
not  necessarily  of  a  public  character,  is  included  under  this 
division.  The  following  are  some  of  the  specific  vocations 
prepared  for  by  the  curricula  in  the  Public  Service  Division : 
Factory  inspectors;  staff  members  in  bureaus  of  labor,  in 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     125 

tax  commissions,  in  public  utility  commissions,  in  census 
bureaus;  investigators  for  special  inquiries  under  federal, 
state,  municipal,  or  private  authority;  welfare  workers  and 
employment  experts  in  industrial  establishments;  statisti- 
cians; workers  in  municipal  efficiency  bureaus,  etc. 

For  most  of  the  positions  in  this  field,  at  least  one  year 
of  graduate  work  is  essential. 

The  University  of  Texas  is  making  what  it  calls  a 
"start  in  the  right  direction."  It  has  reorganized  its 
courses  with  reference  to  training  men  for  public  service. 
Six  groups  of  courses  have  been  organized  to  correspond 
with  the  six  main  divisions  of  municipal  administration. 
There  are  courses  leading  to  the  B.  A.  and  M.  A.  degrees 
with  special  study  of  public  safety  and  welfare.  This 
group  looks  toward  the  training  of  men  for  such  positions 
as  commissioner  of  public  safety  and  welfare.  The 
second  group  aims  to  provide  special  study  of  public 
finance  and  looks  toward  the  training  of  men  for  such 
positions  as  commissioner  of  finance,  auditor  and  comp- 
troller. The  third  group  emphasizes  public  education  and 
aims  to  prepare  men  for  such  positions  as  commissioner 
of  education  or  superintendent  of  city  schools.  The 
fourth  group  specializes  in  public  law  and  is  intended  for 
those  who  wish  to  become  city  attorneys.  The  fifth  group 
specializes  in  municipal  engineering  and  looks  toward  the 
training  of  men  for  such  positions  as  city  engineers  or 
city  managers.  The  sixth  and  final  group  spends  a  major 
part  of  its  time  in  public  health  and  is  intended  for  those 
who  wish  to  become  health  officers. 

The  University  of  Michigan  has  also  announced  a 
course  in  municipal  administration.  The  object  of  the 
course,  according  to  the  catalogue,  is  to  "train  in  admini- 
stration." It  is  intended  to  develop  capacity  for  the 
direction  of  municipal  work  rather  than  technical  fitness 


126       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

for  the  actual  performance  of  any  portion  of  it.  To  take 
the  single  field  of  accounting  for  illustration,  the  subject 
is  not  to  produce  an  expert  accountant,  but  to  train  in  the 
clear  comprehension  of  the  purpose  and  methods  of  mu- 
nicipal accounting,  and  in  the  knowledge  necessary  for 
the  consideration  of  technical  accounting  problems.  A 
man  would  thus  be  equipped  to  direct  the  energies  of 
an  accounting  force  to  the  production  of  results  most 
conducive  to  the  public  interest.  The  general  aim  is  to 
promote  expertness  in  employing  the  technical  means 
to  the  public  end  in  every  field  of  municipal  activity." 

The  course  in  municipal  administration  consists  of  a 
number  of  individual  courses  from  various  depart- 
ments, including  civil  engineering,  electrical  engineering, 
hygiene,  landscape  design,  law,  mathematics,  mechanical 
engineering,  political  economy,  political  science  and 
sociology.  The  minimum  period  of  instruction  entails 
one  year  of  work  in  the  graduate  school  and  three  months 
of  field  work  under  the  direction  of  the  Committee.  A 
second  graduate  year  will  be  necessary  unless  a  number 
of  prescribed  courses  have  been  taken  as  undergraduate 
studies.  Unfortunately  the  announcement  does  not  con- 
tain any  specific  statement  regarding  the  character  of 
this  field  work  and  the  amount  or  extent  of  the  super- 
vision. Field  work  that  is  unsupervised  loses  a  great 
deal  of  its  educational  value. 

There  has  been  organized  in  the  School  of  Applied 
Sciences  at  Western  Reserve  University  a  Division  of 
Municipal  Administration  and  Public  Service  under  the 
direction  of  Professor  Augustus  R.  Hatton.  The  pur- 
pose of  this  Division  is  to  train  men  for  administrative 
work  in  the  public  service  and  for  secretarial  work  in 
civic  agencies.  The  course  as  now  planned  covers  a 
period  of  two  years  and  is  practically  on  a  graduate 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     127 

basis,  though  "persons  of  liberal  education  and  practical 
experience,  who  are  at  least  twenty  years  of  age,  will  be 
admitted  to  particular  courses  in  which  they  have  spe- 
cial interest,  without  reference  to  the  attainment  of  a 
degree.  It  is  required  that  they  present  evidence  of 
exceptional  ability  to  pursue  the  course  of  study  which 
they  select  and  that  they  give  satisfactory  reasons  for 
their  selection."  In  this  school  the  academic  courses 
have  been  readjusted  and  adapted  to  the  new  needs  of 
the  course. 

The  arrangements  for  field  work  are  rather  striking. 
A  student  will  be  able  to  secure  as  much  as  three-fifths 
of  his  training  in  practical  work.  Field  work  is  defi- 
nitely required  of  all  candidates  for  a  degree  and  is 
closely  supervised  by  members  of  the  faculty  who  have 
had  practical  experience  in  positions  of  responsibility  in 
municipal  administration.  Arrangements  have  been 
made  with  the  departments  of  government  of  the  City  of 
Cleveland,  the  County  Cuyahoga,  and  the  State  of  Ohio, 
the  Cleveland  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  Civic  League  of 
Cleveland,  the  City  Club  and  other  civic  agencies.  This 
guarantees  the  practical  character  of  the  field  training. 
Of  course  the  students  will  do  the  things  that  these 
agencies  of  government  and  of  citizens  are  required  to  do. 

The  short  course  as  a  means  of  giving  men  in  the 
public  service  opportunity  to  keep  up  in  the  advances  in 
their  work  is  not  utilized  by  the  universities  except  in 
very  rare  cases.  "Columbia  University  for  several 
years  past  has  been  giving,"  says  an  unofficial  report  of 
the  Philadelphia  Department  of  Public  Works,  "two 
short  courses  of  lectures  during  the  winter  months  espe- 
cially designed  for  those  employees  of  townships  and 
municipalities  engaged  in  highway  work.  One  of  these 
courses  occurred  between  Christmas  and  New  Year's 


128       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

and  the  other  in  the  latter  part  of  January.  We  ar- 
ranged that  some  of  the  more  promising  of  our  highway 
inspectors  should  attend  them."  Why  not  in  other  fields  ? 
Why  not  all  universities?  In  New  York  City  the  Col- 
lege of  the  City  of  New  York,  New  York  University 
and  the  city  administration  have  cooperatively  arranged 
to  give  courses  for  men  in  the  public  service  generally 
similar  to  those  now  offered  to  teachers.  More  re- 
cently this  work  is  being  done  solely  under  the  auspices 
of  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York.  The  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania  has  taken  a  forward  step  in  giving 
the  Director  of  the  Department  of  Public  Works  of  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  an  opportunity  to  give  scholarships 
to  employees  of  the*  department  who  show  possibility  of 
growth. 

The  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  has  taken 
a  step  in  connection  with  its  engineering  work  that  may 
properly  be  taken  in  all  professional  education,  and  par- 
ticularly for  men  who  are  to  go  into  public  service. 
The  Institute  has  given  a  course  in  engineering  admin- 
istration. Because  of  its  significance,  the  catalogue  de- 
scription may  be  quoted  from  rather  fully: 

The  Course  in  Engineering  Administration  provides  a 
training  for  men  who  expect  to  enter  positions  concerned 
with  the  management  or  administration  of  manufacturing, 
construction,  and  transportation  enterprises  which  demand 
a  knowledge  of  scientific  and  engineering  principles.  It 
combines  with  instruction  in  general  engineering,  studies  in 
the  methods,  economics,  and  law  of  business.  The  course 
includes  (i)  the  instruction  common  to  all  courses,  in  litera- 
ture, language,  and  history,  and  in  chemistry,  physics,  and 
mathematics;  (2)  a  choice  of  engineering  studies  classified 
under  three  options:  Civil  Engineering,  Mechanical  and 
Electrical  Engineering,   Chemical  Engineering;   and   (3)    a 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING      129 

selected  group  of  subjects  in  business  and  economics.  While 
the  amount  of  time  assigned  to  engineering  subjects  is  less 
than  that  prescribed  in  the  other  courses  of  the  Institute, 
the  fundamental  subjects  have  been  retained  which  will  en- 
able graduates  to  fill  many  of  the  positions  open  to  engi- 
neers. 

Approximately  one-fourth  of  the  total  time  of  the  cur- 
riculum is  given  to  business  subjects  which  are  primarily 
chosen  so  as  to  train  students  to  analyze  commercial  and 
industrial  problems.  In  this  group  special  emphasis  is  placed 
upon  accounting,  business  law,  the  industrial  organization 
of  society,  and  business  management.  The  course  in  ac- 
counting is  designed  to  be  of  service  to  administrative  offi- 
cers in  the  analysis  of  accounts  and  financial  reports,  rather 
than  to  make  bookkeepers,  auditors,  or  accountants  in  a 
technical  sense.  Cost  accounting  includes  methods  of  de- 
termining costs  of  material,  processes,  labor,  and  machines; 
distribution  of  indirect  costs  and  overhead  expenses;  cost 
data  to  secure  economy;  and  inventories.  Business  law 
treats  of  contracts,  agency,  negotiable  instruments,  sales, 
and  patents.  The  two  extended  subjects  of  Industrial  Or- 
ganization and  Business  Management  deal  with  the  financial 
operations  of  corporations  and  the  conduct  of  business  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  individual  employer.  They  include  a 
treatment  of  the  organization  of  the  executive  force,  de- 
partmental functions,  factory  efficiency,  standardization  of 
goods,  stock  keeping,  routing  of  orders,  management  of 
labor,  efficiency  methods,  marketing  of  goods,  publicity  and 
advertising,  credit  department,  insurance  and  business  eth- 
ics. Among  other  subjects  included  in  the  group  of  busi- 
ness studies  are  Banking,  Statistics,  Report  Writing,  Trans- 
portation, and  Securities  and  Investments. 

Physicians,  lawyers,  accountants,  teachers  and  econo- 
mists need  to  have  superimposed  upon  their  technical 
training,  practical  and  theoretical  work  in  administra- 
tion, just  as  do  engineers.    Whether  for  public  or  pri- 


130       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

vate  service  such  additional  training  opens  up  a  wide 
field  of  service. 

Training  Health  Officers. — Serious  efforts  are  now 
being  made,  too,  to  provide  experts  in  the  field  of  pub- 
lic health  administration.  The  first  recognition  came 
in  the  organization  of  the  field  of  sanitary  engineering. 
The  catalogue  of  Union  College  says: 

The  executive  development  of  sanitary  biology  during  re- 
cent years  and  the  establishment  on  a  firm,  scientific  basis 
of  the  germ-theory  of  disease  has  laid  a  secure  foundation  for 
the  important  specialty  of  sanitary  engineering.  Already  the 
practical  application  of  the  principles  in  many  lines  of  public 
utility,  as  well  as  in  medicine  and  surgery,  has  resulted  in 
a  very  marked  decrease  in  the  annual  death  rate.  The  most 
fruitful  line  of  application  of  this  recent  and  useful  knowl- 
edge lies  in  the  intelligent  design,  construction,  and  opera- 
tion of  municipal  public  works  and  of  systems  of  water  sup- 
ply, sewerage,  and  drainage,  heating  and  ventilation  of  pri- 
vate residences,  schools,  hotels,  hospitals,  and  other  public 
institutions  and  buildings. 

But  there  has  developed  a  need  for  a  wider  prepara- 
tion than  the  work  in  sanitary  engineering  has  ordi- 
narily required.  This  need  has  been  answered  in  such 
an  institution  as  the  school  for  health  officers  con- 
ducted by  Harvard  University  and  the  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology  where  the  courses  of  study  cover 
a  wide  range,  including  medical,  biological,  hygienic  and 
engineering  sciences,  together  with  practical  health  ad- 
ministration. 

The  school  aims  to  prepare  young  men  to  occupy  ad- 
ministrative and  executive  positions,  such  as  health 
officers,  or  members  of  boards  of  health,  or  secretaries, 
agents  or  inspectors  of  health  organizations.     The  ordi- 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING      131 

nary  methods  of  academic  study  will  be  pursued,  supple- 
mented by  practical  training.  Though  in  the  description 
of  courses  there  is  very  little  mention  of  field  study,  there 
is  recognition  of  the  opportunities.     The  catalogue  says : 

The  opportunities  for  the  practical  study  of  the  arts  of 
public  sanitation  offered  to  students  of  the  school  for  health 
officers  are  exceptional.  The  city  of  Boston  is  an  impor- 
tant port  of  entry  for  foreign  and  domestic  shipping  and  for 
immigration,  with  thirty  or  more  municipalities  in  its  im- 
mediate vicinity,  while  the  state  of  Massachusetts  is  a  com- 
munity which  has  long  been  recognized  as  standing  in  the 
forefront  of  American  commonwealths  in  all  aspects  of  the 
practice  of  public  health.  To  the  advantage  of  location  are 
furthermore  added  all  the  resources  of  Harvard  University 
and  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology. 

The  courses  in  this  school  are  grouped  under  nine 
headings  which  follow : 

I.  Preventive  medicine 

II.  Personal  hygiene 

III.  Public  health  administration 

IV.  Sanitary  biology  and  sanitary  chemistry 
V.  Special  pathology 

VI.  Communicable  diseases 

VII.  Sanitary  engineering 

VIII.  Demography 

IX.  Medical  and  other  sciences 

Johns  Hopkins  University  is  now  organizing  an  in- 
stitute of  hygiene  and  public  health  on  a  very  compre- 
hensive scale.  The  work  is  going  forward  under  the 
supervision  of  Dr.  William  H.  Welch  who  will  be  the 
permanent  director.  The  university  status  of  the  school 
is  very  significant.  In  the  article  in  The  Survey  an- 
nouncing the  school  it  is  said:  "The  new  institute  of 


132        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

hygiene  will  be  an  essential  part  of  the  university  co- 
ordinate with  the  medical  school,  for  it  is  recognized 
that  the  profession  of  the  sanitarian  and  worker  in  pre- 
ventive medicine  is  not  identical  with  that  of  the  prac- 
titioner of  medicine.  It  requires  a  specialized  training/* 
The  institute  will  be  financed  by  the  International  Health 
Commission,  a  subsidiary  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation. 
Not  so  significant  a  step,  but  noteworthy,  is  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Public  Health  (Dr. 
P.H.)  at  several  universities.  The  general  require- 
ments for  the  degree  are  usually  similar  to  those  for  the 
Ph.D.  Candidacy  for  the  degree  is  open  to  holders  of 
the  degree  of  M.D.  from  recognized  medical  schools. 
Candidates  for  the  degree  must  spend  at  least  two  years, 
subsequent  to  their  graduation  from  medical  school,  in 
the  study  of  sciences  relating  to  hygiene  and  public 
health.  However,  in  these  courses  the  administrative 
aspect,  as  distinct  from  the  scientific,  is  not  sufficiently 
emphasized.     Sometimes  it  is  almost  entirely  neglected. 

Training  Social  Workers. — Modern  municipal  gov- 
ernment is  becoming  largely  social  in  character  and  is 
assuming  a  good  deal  of  charity  and  correctional  work 
that  was  formerly  done  by  private  individuals  and  pri- 
vate or  quasi-public  societies.  It  is  in  this  field  of  social 
economy  that  large  advances  have  been  made  in  the  de- 
velopment of  field  training  for  public  service.  Schools 
for  social  workers  or  departments  in  social  economy 
have  been  established  in  universities  and  sometimes  as 
separate  institutions. 

The  New  York  School  of  Philanthropy  is  affiliated 
with  Columbia  University.  Its  courses,  with  certain  re- 
strictions, are  open  to  graduate  students  of  Columbia 
University  and  may  be  credited  as  a  minor  subject  for 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     133 

candidates  for  higher  degrees.  The  St.  Louis  School  of 
Social  Economy  is  affiliated  with  Washington  Univer- 
sity. Credits  earned  in  the  School  of  Economy  will  be 
accepted  by  Washington  University  toward  a  bacca- 
laureate or  an  advanced  degree  according  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  course.  The  acceptance  by  any  other 
institution  of  credits  earned  in  the  School  of  Economy  is 
a  matter  for  decision  in  each  case.  There  is  established, 
too,  in  connection  with  Simmons  College,  a  school  for 
social  workers. 

The  Chicago  School  of  Civics  and  Philanthropy  is  not 
affiliated  with  any  university,  but  has  an  advisory  council 
of  professors  from  eight  of  the  state  universities  of  the 
middle  west.  Field  work  is  fundamental  in  this  school. 
Its  description  of  its  field  work  is  selected  for  quotation : 

Training  for  social  work  cannot  be  given  merely  by  lec- 
tures or  the  study  of  books  or  even  by  observation;  one  can 
learn  how  to  do  only  by  doing  under  expert  supervision. 
This  practice  work  is  as  important  a  part  of  the  curriculum 
as  the  lecture  courses  and  as  high  a  standard  must  be  main- 
tained for  regular  and  intelligent  work. 

It  is  becoming  constantly  more  evident  that  social  work 
should  no  more  be  undertaken  without  preliminary  training 
in  the  field  than  medical  practice  without  clinical  experi- 
ence. This  practice  work  is  as  important  a  part  of  the  cur- 
riculum as  the  lecture  courses,  and  as  high  a  standard  for 
regular  and  intelligent  work  must  be  maintained. 

Students  are  required  to  give  fifteen  hours  a  week  to  field 
work  throughout  the  regular  school  year.  Assignments  are 
made  at  the  beginning  of  each  term  and  weekly  reports  of 
the  work  of  each  student  are  sent  to  the  registrar  of  the 
school  by  the  superintendent  of  the  office  to  which  the  stu- 
dent is  assigned.  The  aim  is  to  make  this  practical  work  a 
genuine  social  apprenticeship,  and  all  superintendents  un- 
der  whom   students  work   are   in   reality   members   of   the 


134       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

teaching  staff  of  the  school.  For  the  purpose  of  training  no 
form  of  social  work  is  so  fundamental  as  the  family  work 
of  the  United  Charities,  in  part  because  the  methods  of  tech- 
nic  of  treatment  have  been  so  thoroughly  worked  out, 
and  in  part  because  it  provides  so  many  points  of  contact 
with  a  large  variety  of  cooperating  organizations  that  stu- 
dents are  given  as  early  as  possible  in  the  school  year  an 
actual  knowledge  of  the  entire  social  field.  All  students 
who  are  candidates  for  the  certificate  of  the  school  are  re- 
quired, for  the  first  three  months,  to  spend  three  hours  a  day, 
five  days  of  the  week,  in  one  of  the  district  offices  of  the 
United  Charities.  At  the  end  of  that  time  students  are 
given  a  choice  of  work;  those  who  prefer  go  into  one  of 
the  child-caring  agencies,  the  Legal  Aid  Society,  the  Voca- 
tional Supervision  Department  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
the  Immigrant's  Protective  League,  the  probation  depart- 
ment of  the  juvenile  court,  the  social  service  department  of 
one  of  the  large  city  hospitals,  the  Infant  Welfare  Society, 
or  some  other  specialized  social  or  civic  agency,  as  ap- 
prentices. 

The  New  York  Training  School  for  Community 
Center  Workers. — A  very  significant  step  was  taken 
in  New  York  City  recently  in  the  organization  of  the 
New  York  Training  School  for  Community  Center 
Workers  under  the  direction  of  John  Collier.  The  be- 
ginning of  the  school  is  thus  told  in  the  official  announce- 
ment: 

The  demand  for  trained  community  leaders,  far  in  excess 
of  the  supply,  and  the  demand  on  the  part  of  community 
center  workers  for  a  means  of  interchanging  experience, 
led  to  the  establishment,  in  February,  191 5,  of  a  seminar 
course  on  community  center  problems.  This  seminar,  which 
was  regarded  as  an  experiment,  clearly  showed  the  need 
for  a  permanent  training  school.     From  this  beginning  has 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING      135 

grown  the  New  York  Training  School  for  Community  Cen- 
ter Workers. 

New  York  City,  with  its  varied  conditions  and  composite 
population,  is  a  logical  center  for  the  Training  School.  The 
local  conditions  of  almost  any  community  are  reproduced 
somewhere  within  Greater  New  York,  and  no  city  presents 
equal  opportunities  for  supplementary  work  in  the  academic 
field. 

The  school  is  founded,  it  is  said,  "to  discover  men  and 
women  possessed  of  social  insight  and  of  the  capacity 
for  leadership,  and  to  equip  them  to  carry  forward  the 
new  community  movement." 

The  method  is  thus  outlined:  "To  this  end  there  is  of- 
fered a  year  of  carefully  supervised  field  work;  a  tutorial 
system  insuring  continuous  individual  attention  to  each  stu- 
dent; a  series  of  intimate  conferences  designed  to  cover 
exhaustively  the  special  problems  which  arise  in  community 
centers;  and  a  seminar  course  which  will  focalize  on  the 
community  center  problem  the  light  from  wider  interests  and 
from  the  theoretical  sciences — from  psychology,  economic 
history  and  economics,  and  sociology. 

Particularly  significant  in  the  w^ork  of  the  school  is  the 
emphasis  to  be  placed  on  field  training.  The  method 
of  the  school  "will  be  radically  clinical  in  all  its  depart- 
ments, and  the  practice  work  done  by  students  will  be 
the  basis  of  all  the  work  of  the  school.  Practice  work 
of  not  less  than  fifteen  hours  per  week  will  be  required. 
Only  those  students  prepared  to  meet  the  requirements 
in  this  direction  will  be  regularly  enrolled. 

"This  practice  work  will  be  closely  controlled  by  the 
Supervisor  of  Training,  and  will  consist  of  investigations, 
the  general  administration  of  community  centers,  the 
leadership  of  special  activities  and  the  supervision  of  new 
pieces  of  experimental  work." 


136       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

There  are  in  New  York  at  present  seven  developed  com- 
munity centers,  mantaining  activities  of  greater  variety  and 
operated  on  a  largely  self-supporting  basis  under  the  super- 
vision of  experienced  professional  w^orkers.  The  field  work 
of  students  will  be  done  in  these  centers  and  broadly  in  the 
school  neighborhoods,  and  in  two  projected  centers  which 
will  be  operated  by  the  Training  School  itself  through  the 
agency  of  its  staff  and  students. 

Thorough  experience  in  playground  work  and  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  play  streets  will  be  part  of  the  practice 
course. 

The  (N.  Y.)  Training  School  for  Public  Service.— 

The  most  significant  effort  in  training  men  for  municipal 
service  is  the  Training  School  for  Public  Service  con- 
ducted by  the  New  York  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research. 
In  the  spring  of  191 1,  under  the  initiative  of  Mrs.  E.  H. 
Harriman,  a  fund  of  $200,000  was  pledged  for  a  five 
year  test  of  training  men  for  public  service  via  field  ex- 
perience in  rendering  public  service.  This  led  to  the 
founding  in  November,  191 1,  of  the  Training  School  for 
Public  '  Service.  Its  aims  are :  To  train  men  for  the 
study  and  administration  of  public  business;  to  qualify 
men  to  meet  the  growing  need  for  students  and  admin- 
istrators competent  (a)  to  test  and  (b)  to  improve 
methods  and  results  of  municipal  service;  to  publish 
facts  which  may  be  incorporated  in  text-books  and  lec- 
tures in  teaching  the  relation  to  the  public  service  of 
(a)  political  science,  government  and  sociology;  (b) 
accountancy;  (c)  engineering;  (d)  law;  (e)  public 
hygiene;  (f)  school  administration;  (g)  journalism;  (h) 
medicine,  etc.,  to  furnish  wherever  practicable  a  con- 
necting link  between  schools  and  colleges  and  municipal 
or  other  public  departments  for  practical  field  work;  to 
secure   open   discussion   of   public  business   which  will 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     137 

emphasize  the  need  for  training  on  the  part  of  officials 
and  employees  alike. 

The  remarkable  thing  about  this  school  is  that  it  is  the 
first  organized  effort,  through  an  institution  devoted 
solely  to  public  service  training,  to  supplement  theoretical 
instruction  with  practical  experience.  In  commenting  on 
this  peculiar  provision  for  field  work  of  this  training 
school.  Professor  Charles  A.  Beard,  now  Supervisor  of 
Instruction  of  the  school,  in  a  report  to  the  Committee 
on  Practical  Training  for  Public  Service  of  the  Amer- 
ican Political  Science  Association,  said: 

The  field  work  is,  of  course,  particularly  stressed,  and  it  is 
in  this  work  that  the  men  receive  their  practical  contact 
with  the  city  officials  and  with  the  concrete  stuff  of  city  life 
and  government.  With  reference  to  this  work  the  follow- 
ing points  should  be  noted: 

a — Each  man  coming  into  the  School  is  assigned  a  short 
study  in  the  field  to  test  his  ability  to  get  at  facts 
and  to  meet  men  of  practical  affairs.  On  the  basis 
of  this  first  test,  the  student  is  assigned  new  and 
more  difficult  work,  or  if  he  is  found  wanting  is 
requested  to  withdraw.  Every  student  is  required 
to  take  a  certain  amount  of  work  in  budget-mak- 
ing, the  essentials  of  inspection,  audit,  unit  cost, 
supervision  of  work,  and  reporting. 

b — After  the  first  assignments,  additional  field  work  is 
given.  This  may  consist  of  a  number  of  short 
assignments  in  rapid  succession  or  the  student  may 
be  given  a  large  undertaking  in  New  York  or 
some  neighboring  city.  Each  man  is  assigned  on 
the  basis  of  his  previous  achievements  and  thus  a 
sound  progressive  educational  method  is  followed. 

c — Each  student  is  under  the  general  and  personal  su- 
pervision of  the  director  of  field  work,  and  in  ad- 


138       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

dition  is  assigned  to  one  of  the  leading  men  in  the 
Bureau  who  happens  to  have  the  most  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  field  work  to  be  undertaken. 
Thus  general  and  expert  direction  is  given  to  each 
student,  and  it  is  correct  to  say  that  each  student 
has  more  personal  and  immediate  supervision  than 
the  average  graduate  student  in  a  university. 

d — Complete  records  are  kept  of  every  student,  his  as- 
signments, his  reports  and  his  results. 

e — Opportunities  are  afforded  to  develop  the  student's 
capacity  for  original  investigations,  not  only  in 
books  but  also  with  actual  conditions  of  city  life. 
The  student  is  always  brought  into  contact  with 
men  of  large  experience  and  important  positions 
and  in  the  development  of  his  personality  this  con- 
tact with  the  world  is  exceedingly  valuable. 

f — The  organization  of  the  results  of  the  field  work  is 
carefully  scrutinized,  with  reference  to  success  in 
getting  at  the  salient  matters  and  to  effectiveness 
of  presentation. 

By  way  of  conclusion,  I  should  say,  that  the  Training 
School  fulfills  every  requirement  of  a  university.  It  aims 
to  develop  just  those  qualities  which  universities  seek  to 
develop:  capacity  for  expert  original  investigations,  per- 
sonality, ability  to  report  the  results  of  investigations  with 
skill  and  effectiveness.  Furthermore,  the  methods  of  the 
Training  School  comply  with  the  most  rigid  academic  stand- 
ards as  to  expert  supervision,  attendance  and  reports.  To 
these  requirements  the  Training  School  adds  what  the  uni- 
versity cannot  add — the  practical  contact  with  the  world  of 
affairs  which  fits  the  student  for  immediate  entrance  into 
public  or  private  service  of  a  high  order. 

In  my  opinion,  one  year  spent  at  the  Training  School  is 
equivalent  in  discipline  and  academic  training  to  a  year 
spent  in  any  university  with  whose  graduate  work  I  am  ac- 
quainted, and  if  I  had  the  power  to  do  so,  I  would  grant  to 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     139 

a  student  taking  one  year's  work  at  the  Training  School  a 
year's  credit  toward  the  degree  of  Ph.D.  in  Columbia  Uni- 
versity. 

The  applications  to  the  Training  School  reveal  a  rather 
striking  and  general  demand  among  all  types  of  persons 
and  all  manner  of  occupations  to  enter  the  public  ser- 
vice and  to  be  prepared  for  it  by  field  training.  In  the 
first  two  years  of  the  School  eight  hundred  and  forty 
applications  and  inquiries  ^  had  been  received  and  ninety- 
two  persons  had  been  accepted,  but  some  of  these  were 
later  dropped.  The  facts  regarding  the  ninety-two 
persons  accepted  are  given  in  the  second  annual  report 
of  the  Training  School  as  follows : 

Among  the  92  persons  thus  far  accepted  for  training  have 
been  civil,  electrical,  sanitary  and  consulting  engineers; 
physicians,  health  officers,  college  professors,  school  super- 
intendents, principals,  high  school  teachers — accountants, 
statisticians — lawyers,  army  officers,  editor^,  social  workers, 
manufacturers,  secretaries,  traffic  managers;  a  former  judge, 
a  city  food  inspector,  a  former  state  assemblyman  and  a  state 
budget  commissioner.  Representatives  of  47  cities  in  21 
states  have  been  admitted  to  the  Training  School. 

Of  92  accepted,  82  had  previous  college  training. 

In  order  to  facilitate  the  changing  of  vocations  of  men 
desiring  to  enter  the  public  service,  many  of  the  suc- 
cessful applicants  for  admission  to  the  School  were  al- 
lowed a  stipend.  This  was  simply,  as  Dr.  Allen  often 
described  it,  a  "bridge"  during  the  period  of  preparation. 
No  specific  time  or  period  of  training  had  been  deter- 
mined on  in  advance.  This  was  presumably  determined 
by  the  education  and  experience  of  the  student  and  his 

^This  combination  of  inquiries  and  applications  is  unfortunate 
because  it  does  not  show  definitely  the  number  of  applications. 


I40       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

educability.  While  it  was  generally  understood  that 
the  student  was  to  remain  two  years,  it  was  more  proba- 
ble that  he  would  actually  remain  one  year  and  even  that 
he  would  be  drafted  into  service  before  then. 

The  one  thing  that  the  formal  educational  institutions 
need  to  learn  in  connection  with  the  proposed  field  work 
is  well  demonstrated  in  the  work  of  the  Training  School, 
that  is,  the  need  for  the  continuous  supervision  of  the 
men.  It  is  done  through  personal  supervision,  individual 
and  group  conference,  by  records  and  through  the  fact 
that  the  work  is  work  that  must  be  done  and  has  to  fit 
into  a  particular  situation. 

Institute  for  Public  Service. — The  Institute  for  Pub- 
lic Service  organized  in  November,  191 5,  under  the 
direction  of  Dr.  William  H.  Allen,  aims  to  give  training 
for  public  service  via  rendering  public  service.  It  pro- 
vided training  last  year  for  a  number  of  students,  though 
it  is  not  clear  from  its  annual  report  how  many  students 
or  for  what  period  they  were  trained.  Dr.  Allen  is  aim- 
ing to  carry  on  the  Institute  for  Public  Service  along 
the  general  lines  laid  down  by  him  for  the  Training 
School  for  Public  Service  conducted  by  the  New  York 
Bureau  of  Municipal  Research.  He  indicates  his  dis- 
satisfaction with  that  school  by  his  statement  in  the 
annual  report  that  one  of  the  reasons  for  establishing 
headquarters  in  New  York  City  is :  "New  York  City  was 
without  any  agency  that  was  using  current  municipal 
work  as  the  starting  point  and  course  for  training  men 
and  women  for  public  service." 

The  principal  purpose  of  the  Institute,  to  which  all  the 
other  purposes  are  subordinate,  is:  "To  conduct  at  New 
York  City  and  at  affiliated  centers  that  may  hereafter  be 
formed,  and  in  localities  oifering  opportunities  for  train- 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     141 

ing  through  study  of  local  problems,  a  training  school  for 
public  service  through  assignments  of  practical  field 
work  that  needs  to  be  done."  Affiliations  have  been 
established,  according  to  the  first  annual  report  of  the 
Institute,  with  five  bureaus  of  municipal  research,  a 
municipal  efficiency  department,  one  state  civic  organiza- 
tion, two  city  managers  and  two  city  superintendents 
of  schools;  and  the  heads  of  these  institutions  and  de- 
partments are  supervising  members  of  the  Institute  for 
Public  Service.  To  what  extent  these  affiliations  are 
merely  decorative  is  not  clear  from  the  report  of  the 
Institute — surely  they  have  not  been  extensively  used. 
But  this  plan  of  establishing  training  centers  offering 
such  a  variety  of  experience  in  public  and  quasi-public 
service  is  excellent  and  ought  to  be  imitated  by  colleges 
and  universities  undertaking  practical  training  for  public 
service. 

V.  The  Municipal  University 

The  Wider  Conception  of  the  University 

The  historic  antagonism  between  town  and  gown  is  to 
be  a  thing  of  the  past.  Instead  of  suspicion,  contempt 
and  strife,  there  is  developing  a  genuine  cooperation. 
The  college  is  to  be  no  longer  a  thing  apart  or  with- 
drawn from  the  vast  concourse  of  mankind.  It  is  to 
be  no  longer  an  ''imperium  in  imperio"  It  is  to  be  no 
longer  self-sufficient,  superior,  esoteric,  aristocratic.  It 
is  to  be  democratic,  community  conscious,  tending  more 
and  more  to  find  its  inspiration  in  present-day  life  and 
its  opportunity  for  service  in  present-day  needs. 

There  has  been  developed  recently  an  amazing  and 
vivifying  conception  of  the  relation  of  the  college  to 


142       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

the  community.  Much  has  been  said  in  the  middle  west 
about  the  state-wide  campus  of  the  state  universities. 
This  means  practically  that  the  university  through  lec- 
tures, through  correspondence  courses,  through  the  en- 
couragement of  debating  and  public  discussion,  through 
all  the  devices  of  the  extension  movement  has  been  carry- 
ing its  message  to  Garcia.  Garcia  here  means  the  people 
of  the  state,  "the  butcher,  the  baker,  the  candlestick- 
maker,"  located  not  only  within  its  wall  or  in  the  univer- 
sity town  but  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  state.  As  a 
force  in  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  the  extension  move- 
ment ought  to  be,  and  will  be,  a  permanent  force  in  our 
university  education  and  social  life.  It  perhaps  ought  to 
be  more  critical  of  the  knowledge  it  distributes,  and  it 
ought  to  bring  it  into  more  direct  relation  to  the  indi- 
vidual life  and  the  social  welfare. 

But  there  has  developed  recently  a  more  fruitful  con- 
ception of  the  relation  of  the  college  to  the  community. 
The  whole  organized  life  of  man  becomes  the  educational 
institution.  The  university  is  the  intelligence  center, 
utilizing  all  for  the  better  education  of  youth  and  man- 
hood. In  this  conception  every  office,  every  factory, 
every  public  utility,  public  service  itself,  is  an  educational 
opportunity  for  the  university  to  utilize  in  training  young 
men  and  women  for  service.  The  university  is  only  a 
part — a  fraction — a  relation.  The  whole  is  Life  in  all 
its  complexity  and  confusion.  The  university  has  sig- 
nificance only  as  it  serves  its  function  in  giving  higher 
meaning  and  purpose  to  the  whole  contemporary  life. 
Its  research  into  the  past  is  ultimately  to  enable  us  to 
understand  the  present — and  to  face  the  future. 

Through  its  failure  to  adapt  itself  currently  to  the 
"new  occasions"  of  modern  times  the  university  remains 
fractional,  a  part.     It  does  not  satisfy  its  whole  duty. 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     143 

This  widening  conception  of  the  university  finds  its 
most  recent  and  its  most  helpful  expression  in  the  move- 
ment for  municipal  universities,  though  this  brings  with 
it  a  vexing  problem  of  taxation.  The  first  Conference 
on  Universities  and  Public  Service  centered  for  the  first 
time  national  interest  on  the  probluem.  President  Kolbe 
of  the  University  of  Akron,  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
meeting  on  the  municipal  university,  offered  the  follow- 
ing resolution : 

Whereas,  the  mayor  in  his  opening  address  welcomed  the 
cooperation  of  the  universities  in  the  City  of  New  York, 
with  the  government  of  the  City  of  New  York;  and 

Whereas,  judging  by  the  discussions  at  this  conference 
there  seem  to  be  unlimited  opportunities  for  public  service 
by  universities;  and 

Whereas,  this  seems  best  attained  by  a  method  of  train- 
ing men  for  the  public  service  by  doing  things  that  need  to 
be  done  in  the  community;  and 

Whereas,  this  result  and  this  method  have  been  conclu- 
sively demonstrated  in  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  the 
University  of  Cincinnati,  and  other  higher  educational  in- 
stitutions in  all  parts  of  the  country;  and 

Whereas,  there  is  a  movement  for  municipal  universities 
especially  in  Ohio;  and 

Whereas,  New  York  is  a  particularly  rich  opportunity  to 
effect  cooperation  between  government  and  the  higher  in- 
stitutions of  learning;  and 

Whereas,  New  York  spends  over  a  million  dollars  an- 
nually for  its  municipal  colleges; 

Therefore,  be  it  resolved  by  this  Conference  on  Univer- 
sities and  Public  Service  that  the  municipal  colleges  of  New 
York  be  requested  to  plan  an  adequate  demonstration  over 
a  period  of  years  of  the  community  service  of  a  munici- 
pally supported  institution  in  governmental  administration 
and  in  promoting  the  general  social  welfare;  and 


144       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

That  copies  of  this  resolution  be  transmitted  to  the  board 
of  trustees  of  the  municipal  colleges. 

At  a  meeting  of  several  of  the  persons  attending  the 
Conference,  President  Kolbe  suggested  that  some  way- 
ought  to  be  provided  of  giving  the  movement  cohesion. 
Without  going  into  the  details  of  subsequent  develop- 
ments, it  may  be  said  that  under  the  leadership  of  Presi- 
dent Dabney  of  Cincinnati,  President  Kolbe  of  Akron, 
Commissioner  Claxton  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
Education,  and  others,  an  association  was  formed  to 
promote  the  purposes  underlying  the  municipal  university. 
But  it  took  wider  scope.  All  universities  or  colleges 
situated  in  large  cities  were  urged  to  cooperate.  To  the 
credit  of  many  privately  endowed  institutions  it  may 
be  said  that  they  welcomed  this  opportunity  to  help  the 
movement.  Notable  among  the  institutions  were  Johns 
Hopkins  University,  Northwestern  University,  Reed 
College,  New  York  University,  James  Milliken  Univer- 
sity and  Washington  University  (St.  Louis).  The  pri- 
vately endowed  universities  are  more  and  more  recog- 
nizing their  public  character  and  the  impossibility  of 
a  private  institution  of  higher  learning.  This  recogni- 
tion of  obligations  that  stares  at  you  ev-ery  day  from 
your  immediate  environment  is  perhaps  the  most  signifi- 
cant new  force  for  expert  municipal  government  that 
has  been  developed. 

A  similar  movement  under  the  title  of  the  "civic  uni- 
versity" movement  has  been  under  way  in  Great  Britain. 
Institutions  have  been  established  at  Manchester,  Read- 
ing, Liverpool,  Birmingham,  Leeds,  Sheffield  and  Bristol. 
But  the  danger  to  this  movement,  which  some  observers 
have  noted,  is  the  tendency  to  imitate  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge.    Instead  of  taking  advantage  of  the  distinctive 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     145 

opportunities,  they  choose  the  less  glorious  career   of 
being  a  lesser  Oxford  or  Cambridge. 

The  establishment  of  the  University  at  Frankfurt, 
Germany,  by  the  municipality  is  significant  of  the  trend 
in  Germany. 

The  Movement  in  the  United  States. — What  was 
probably  the  first  municipal  university  in  this  country 
was  founded  "in  1837  by  a  decree  of  the  City  Council  (of 
Louisville),  and  the  tract  of  land  comprising  the  town 
block  between  Eighth  and  Ninth  Streets,  extending  south 
from  Chestnut,  was  granted  to  the  corporation  chartered 
by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky  'for  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  university  for  the  promotion  of  every 
branch  of  science,  literature,  and  the  liberal  arts/  A 
special  subsidy  of  $5o,ckx)  was  also  allowed  for  the 
construction  of  suitable  buildings."  The  University  of 
Louisville,  until  recently,  has  been  made  up  mostly  of 
inferior  professional  schools  and  has  recently  added  a 
college  of  arts. 

Another  early  attempt  to  found  a  municipally-sup- 
ported university  was  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
A  movement  for  a  college  there  was  begun  in  1770. 
After  a  more  or  less  precarious  existence,  "in  1837  the 
college  was  reorganized.  Upon  the  joint  application  of 
the  trustees  and  the  City  Council,  the  legislature  of  the 
state  agreed  that  the  property,  rights,  and  interests  of  the 
College  be  rendered  and  transferred  to  the  City  Coun- 
cil, and  the  City  Council  on  their  part  agreed  to  accept 
the  trust  and  to  provide  the  means  to  maintain  the  insti- 
tution. The  terms  and  conditions  were  set  forth  and 
carried  into  effect  by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly. 
In  furtherance  of  this  agreement  the  City  Council  made 


146       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

regularly  liberal  appropriations  for  the  current  expenses 
of  the  College,  and  Hon.  Richard  Yeadon  introduced 
into  Council  a  bill  which  provided  for  an  annual  appro- 
priation of  one  thousand  dollars  for  ninety-nine  years 
to  be  invested  as  a  permanent  fund  for  its  support. 
The  bill  becapie  an  ordinance  in  May,  1839.  Then  for 
the  first  time,  the  College  was  placed  upon  a  permanent 
foundation." 

Neither  of  these  institutions  has  been  a  significant  fac- 
tor in  the  municipal  university  movement.  The  only 
significance  of  these  institutions  is  the  fact  that  munici- 
palities have  supported  them  in  part  at  least  from  out 
of  municipal  taxes. 

The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York  was  definitely 
begun  under  municipal  auspices  as  the  Free  Academy 
and  later  by  legislative  act  (1854,  1866)  was  given  full 
collegiate  functions  "and  privileges  so  far  as  pertain-ed  to 
conferring  upon  its  graduates  the  usual  collegiate  degrees 
and  diplomas  in  the  Arts  and  Sciences.  In  the  year 
1866,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
the  Legislature  of  the  State  changed  the  name  to  that 
of  'The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,'  and  conferred 
on  the  institution  the  powers  and  privileges  of  a  college, 
pursuant  to  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  State,  rendering 
it  subject  to  the  provisions  of  the  said  statutes  relative 
to  colleges  and  to  visitation  of  the  Regents  of  the  Univer- 
sity, in  like  manner  with  other  colleges  of  the  State,  and 
making  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Education,  ex 
officio,  the  Trustees  of  the  College."  Subsequently  it 
was  given  by  legislative  act  a  separate  board  ot  trustees 
to  be  appointed  by  the  mayor  of  the  city. 

Under  the  presidency  of  Sidney  E.  Mezes,  formerly 
president  of  the  University  of  Texas,  the  College  of  the 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     147 

City  of  New  York  is  expected  to  take  a  very  prominent 
part  in  the  civic  movement  of  the  time,  particularly  in 
training  men  for  municipal  service.  There  is  in  New 
York  also  a  municipal  college  for  women  called  Hunter 
College. 

The  very  progressive  University  of  Pittsburgh  is  sup- 
ported in  part  by  municipal,  state  and  private  funds.  It 
is  alert  to  the  opportunities  of  its  environment. 

Leadership  of  the  municipally  supported  univ-ersities 
is  generally  conceded  at  the  present  time  to  the  Univer- 
sity of  Cincinnati.  The  beginning  of  the  University  of 
Cincinnati  may  be  dated  from  the  will  of  Charles 
McMicken  in  1858,  though  it  was  not  established  until 
1871  under  a  legislative  act  of  1870.  The  institution  had 
for  a  long  time  inadequate  funds  until  "at  length  the  city 
undertook  to  support  the  University  in  part  by  public 
taxation,  the  tax  for  this  purpose  being  limited  at  first  to 
three-tenths  of  one  mill.  In  1906  the  General  Assembly 
of  Ohio  authorized  the  levying  of  an  increased  municipal 
tax  for  the  University — five-tenths  of  a  mill,  instead  of 
three-tenths  as  heretofore." 

In  1 91 3  the  trustees  of  Buchtel  College  offered  to  give 
to  the  city  of  Akron  "the  entire  plant  and  endowment  of 
the  college  as  the  nucleus  of  a  municipal  university,"  and 
the  city  council  in  accepting  the  gift  promised  to  support 
adequately  the  new  university.  The  University  of  Akron 
promises  very  well  for  the  future  under  the  energetic 
and  intelligent  leadership  of  President  Kolbe. 

A  similar  movement  occurred  in  Toledo  and  resulted 
in  the  establishment  of  the  municipal  university  of  Toledo 
(1914).  The  spirit  of  the  university  is  exhibited 
clearly  in  the  following  announcement: 


148       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 
Use  Your  University 

Toledo  University  belongs  to  the  people  of  Toledo.  All 
of  its  colleges,  and  all  of  the  departments  in  each  college, 
exist  to  serve  you.  They  v^rork  through  a  special  depart- 
ment called  the  Bureau  of  Public  Service.  This  Bureau  is 
prepared  to  render  any  service,  and  to  undertake  any  in- 
vestigation that  would  be  of  interest  or  value  to  the  citizens 
of  this  city.    You  are  invited  and  urged  to  use  it. 

Its  Relation  to  Expert  City  Government. — The 
municipal  university  has  a  peculiarly  intimate  relation 
to  the  municipality.  It  is  located  in  the  municipality;  it 
is  supported  by  public  taxation ;  its  students  are  the  "sons 
and  daughters  of  the  city."  It  is  usually  a  matter  of 
local  pride. 

Communities  are  becoming  increasingly  interested  in 
their  local  government.  In  the  last  decade  more  progress 
has  been  made  in  making  municipal  government  a  decis- 
ive factor  in  promoting  the  public  welfare  than  any 
other  governmental  unit.  The  conditions  that  produced 
the  "shame  of  the  cities"  are  gone.  Indianapolis  warns 
us — not  entirely.  Bryce's  criticism  is  no  longer  perti- 
nent. 

Communities  are  now  looking  for  informed  leader- 
ship, for  facts  about  municipal  progress  everywhere,  for 
non-partisan,  non-political  evaluation  of  existing  govern- 
mental machinery,  for  carefully  thought  out  plans  of 
municipal  betterment  and  for  a  trained  personnel.  This 
demand  has  led  to  the  organization  of  bureaus  of  munic- 
ipal research,  to  the  national  training  school  for  public 
service,  to  the  survey  movement,  to  the  national  publi- 
cations on  municipal  government,  to  the  municipal 
reference  library  movement,  to  efficiency  departments  in 
city  government,  to  the  transformation  of  the  aims  of 


EXISTING  AGENCIES  OF  TRAINING     149 

chambers  of  commerce,  and  to  civic  organizations  with- 
out end. 

The  recent  interest  in  the  municipal  university  move- 
ment is  largely  an  expression  of  the  same  demand  for 
a  better  municipal  government.  The  municipal  univer- 
sity that  regards  its  mission  as  merely  the  instruction  of 
the  youth  who  come  to  it  will  miss  its  opportunity — and 
will  probably  be  without  funds.  The  live  municipal 
universities  have  read  the  times  aright.  Cincinnati  and 
Akron  have  established  bureaus  of  city  tests  for  all 
municipal  departments.  Cincinnati  has  a  municipal 
reference  library.  Toledo  has  a  public  service  bureau 
in  the  service  of  the  people  of  Toledo.  The  College  of 
the  City  of  New  York  cooperates  with  the  department 
of  education  of  the  city  in  the  continued  training  of 
teachers  in  service.  The  department  of  engineering  of 
the  University  of  Akron  made  and  published  an  investi- 
gation of  street  pavements  even  before  it  was  completely 
organized.  It  was  baptized  in  service.  The  University 
of  Akron  has  a  department  of  civic  cooperation  and  has 
already  made  cooperative  arrangements  with  the  Akron 
Bureau  of  Municipal  Research  for  the  practical  training 
of  its  students  of  municipal  government  in  actual  govern- 
mental problem.^ 

For  training  men  for  municipal  service  it  is  to  these 
municipally-supported  universities  that  we  must  look. 
They  are  accepting,  perhaps  without  full  implication  of 
their  action,  a  few  of  the  opportunities  for  immediate 
service  that  are  now  confronting  them.     They  are  edu- 

'  Other  information  on  municipal  universities  may  be  found  in 
Dean  Patterson's  article  on  "Municipal  Universities  of  the 
United  States"  in  the  National  Municipal  Review  for  October, 
1916,  and  in  Professor  Holliday's  article  on  "The  Municipal 
University"  in  the  American  City  for  November,  1916. 


150       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

eating  the  public  to  look  to  them  more  and  more  for 
expert  service.  They  are  on  the  road  which  looks  to  the 
widest  service  to  their  respective  communities.  There 
will  be  no  turning  back,  but  the  "bunk"  must  be  taken 
out  of  the  pretensions,  advertising,  and  claims  that  are 
made  on  behalf  of  some  of  the  municipal  universities. 


CHAPTER  IX 

CITIZEN  COOPERATION  WITH  GOVERNMENT 
THROUGH  THE  COMMUNITY  CENTER* 

THE  community  center  movement  is  fifteen  years  old, 
ten  years  old,  or  five  years  old,  according  to  the 
historian  who  gives  the  record.  It  is  a  nation-wide 
movement  and  is  growing  at  an  impressive  rate,  but  it  is 

*This  is  one  of  the  most  important  and  fundamental  prob- 
lems of  expert  city  government.  Citizen  cooperation  with  gov- 
ernment makes  it  a  success.  Citizen  indifference  will  make  it 
permanently  impossible — at  best  a  seesaw.  The  municipal  re- 
search movement  has  operated  from  the  beginning  under  the 
alias  of  citizen  cooperation  with  government.  Its  first  bulle- 
tins were  called  "Efficient  Citizenship."  The  bureau  was  called 
by  its  leaders  "an  agency  of  citizen  inquiry,"  and  "citizen"  was 
almost  invariably  the  adjective  used  to  describe  the  activities 
of  municipal  researchers.  The  municipal  research  movement  is, 
in  fact,  a  movement  for  the  cooperation  of  unoMcial  experts 
or  near-experts  with  official  experts  or  near-experts  via  the 
medium  of  an  agency  supported  for  the  most  part  by  a  few 
wealthy  citizens.  The  community  center  movement,  which  Mr. 
Collier  describes,  is  in  truth  a  citizen  movement.  It  aims  to 
provide  citizen  cooperation  with  government  via  actual  organiza- 
tions of  citizens,  recognizing  well-defined  groups  in  the  com- 
munity and  supported  largely  or  wholly  by  the  citizens  them- 
selves. As  far  as  possible  the  meetings  of  these  community 
groups  are  held  in  the  public  schoolhouse.  To  be  successful, 
this  citizen  movement  requires  a  decentralization  of  the  govern- 

151 


152        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

highly  unstandardized.  Before  discussing  the  move- 
ment in  general  and  its  relation  to  the  administrative 
effectiveness  of  government,  it  will  be  profitable  to  de- 
scribe a  specific  community  center  which  embodies  many 
of  the  driving  principles  of  the  movement.  Most  com- 
munity centers  are  less  complicated  than  the  one  here 
chosen  as  an  example,  but  the  present  illustration  will 
have  been  outgrown  in  more  than  one  city  of  America 
before  this  chapter  is  published. 


I.  The  New  Community  Center 

An  example  chosen  from  New  York — the  Wingate 
Community  Center  at  School  40,  in  the  Gramercy  Dis- 
trict— will  serve  the  purpose  both  of  illustration  and 
argument.  Each  of  the  activities  mentioned  was  insti- 
tuted after  a  careful  weighing  of  values  by  the  Board 
of  Education  and  the  municipal  government.  None  of 
them  exist  merely  for  the  sake  of  local  benefits  which 
they  may  insure,  but  each  is  designed  to  prove  out  the 
technic  of  an  activity  which,  in  the  belief  of  the  New 
York  City  officials  and  leaders  of  the  community  move- 
ment, is  destined  to  become  more  or  less  universal. 

mental   operation   even   though   there   may  be — perhaps    should 
be — centralized  staff  agencies. 

The  new  community  center  as  conceived  and  organized  by 
Mr.  Collier  is  a  radically  different  form  of  community  organi- 
zation and  a  tremendously  more  powerful  agency  of  community 
improvement  than  the  older  form  of  "social  center"  in  the 
schoolhouse.  It  is  based  on  a  radically  different  philosophy 
and  sociology — a  sounder  one.  And  it  is  for  this  reason  that  a 
detailed  description  of  a  community  center  of  the  new  type  is 
given  in  Mr.  Collier's  chapter. — Editor. 


CITIZEN  COOPERATION  153 

The  Wingate  Public  School  is  a  large  semi-modern 
building  occupied  by  a  day  elementary  school.  The 
school  work  ends  at  three  o'clock.  The  day  of  the  com- 
munity dwelling  around  the  school  ends  at  approximately 
midnight. 

This  particular  neighborhood  is  the  most  highly  institu- 
tionalized of  any  New  York  neighborhoods.  What  uplift 
and  institutionalism  have  not  done  for  the  200,000  people 
of  the  Gramercy  area  will  be  suggested  in  all  that  follows. 

In  and  around  School  40  the  community  center  has 
been  built  or  is  building.  The  following  activities,  de- 
veloped within  a  twelvemonth,  are  its  more  significant 
embodiments. 

The  General  Community  Organization. — There  is  a 
general  community  organization,  meeting  in  the  school 
building  every  night  from  eight  o'clock  till  eleven.  The 
activities  range  from  motion  pictures  and  dancing  at  the 
one  extreme,  to  forums  and  study  clubs  at  the  other. 
The  Outside  Branch  of  .the  Mutual  Welfare  League, 
which  took  origin  in  Sing  Sing  Prison,  is  one  of  the 
groups  composing  this  community  organization.  The 
Librarians'  Union  is  another,  and  a  Polish  national  group, 
meeting  on  Sundays.  The  organization  is  a  group  of 
groups,  and  the  groups  contain  young  and  old  people, 
men  and  women.  Sundry  activities  are  maintained — 
such  activities  as  dancing  and  forum  work — with  the 
specific  object  of  making  the  school  building  attractive  to 
the  unconnected  individual,  as  a  first  step  toward  em- 
bracing him  within  a  significant  group  activity.  The  par- 
liamentary organization  of  this  center  is  not  yet  com- 
pleted because  the  mores — the  customary  procedure  and 
standards  of  value  of  the  center — are  still  indefinite. 
Function  must  determine  structure;  the  dominant  inter- 


154       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

ests  must  determine,  and  not  too  soon,  the  parliamentary 
or  statutory  organization. 

Special  Enterprises. — Around  this  general  com- 
munity organization  the  following  special  enterprises  are 
constellated. 

First  is  the  Community  Night  School,  which  has 
already  been  duplicated  in  other  parts  of  New  York.  A 
night  school  of  the  traditional  order,  teaching  English 
and  citizenship  to  foreigners,  has  been  made  over  into 
a  self-operating  night  school  club.  It  employs  the  teach- 
ers of  the  Board  of  Education  and  other  teachers  as  well, 
and  builds  its  teaching  of  English  and  civics  around  vari- 
ous activities  and  interests.  There  are  a  half  million 
non-English-speaking  foreigners  in  New  York,  of  whom 
only  about  thirty  thousand  have  heretofore  frequented 
the  night  schools  annually.  Are  there  interests  which  the 
immigrant  would  be  glad  to  pursue  and  through  which 
he  would  learn  English  incidentally,  the  formal  instruc- 
tion being  merely  supplementary  ?  Answering  this  ques- 
tion, the  Community  Night  School  is  applying  the  point 
of  view  of  John  Dewey.  Interest  creates  action,  which 
creates  more  interest;  action  brings  knowledge;  knowl- 
edge is  embodied  in  habitual  activities ;  the  school  merges 
with  its  surrounding  neighborhood.  The  Community 
Night  School  operates  the  year  round  and  pays  all  its 
own  costs  through  club  dues  during  those  months  when 
tax  money  is  not  available. 

Second  among  the  related  organizations  is  the  Com- 
munity Labor  Center.  The  Labor  Center,  called  Unity 
Center,  was  instituted  by  Local  25  of  the  Ladies'  Waist 
and  Dress  Makers'  Union  of  New  York,  in  cooperation 
with  the  Training  School  for  Community  Workers.  It  is 
frequented  by  about  3,cxx)  union  members  each  week  and 


CITIZEN  COOPERATION  155 

is  self-supporting.  They  come  direct  from  the  factories 
and  have  their  dinner  in  the  building;  they  go  into  class- 
rooms and  hold  their  shop  meetings  under  conditions  of 
unlimited  freedom;  they  then  disperse  into  the  audi- 
torium, gymnasium  and  social  areas  of  the  school;  or, 
according  to  their  preference,  remain  in  the  class-rooms 
for  study  courses  of  varied  nature.  These  study  courses 
have  included  the  following  series  of  lectures  and  semi- 
nars, initiated,  controlled,  and  paid  for  by  the  unions, 
during  the  spring  of  1917:  Industrial  Democracy  (alter- 
nate discussions  in  Yiddish  and  English)  ;  Labor  Prob- 
lems; What  is  lyiterature?  (Discussions  in  Yiddish); 
History  of  the  Labor  Movement  (discussions  in  Eng- 
lish) ;  English  Literature ;  courses  in  English  for  for- 
eigners ;  courses  in  social  dancing  and  gymnastics. 

Unity  Center  is  the  first  organic  connection  between 
the  rank  and  file  of  unionized  labor  under  their  own 
leaders,  and  the  school  community  center.  It  is  being 
watched  closely  by  many  unions  and  is  likely,  before  the 
end  of  191 7,  to  have  been  duplicated  in  not  less  than  six 
of  the  large  New  York  public  schools  and  in  the  schools 
of  other  cities. 

Third  among  the  related  activities  is  the  Social  Clinic 
for  Unadjusted  Children.  This  clinic,  whose  work 
reaches  down  to  the  beginnings  of  the  elementary  school, 
has  to  do  with  truant,  delinquent  and  dependent  chil- 
dren and  their  families  and  the  conditions  which  pro- 
duce their  misfortune;  with  the  vocationally  unadjusted 
child,  and  the  child  whose  incipient  unadjustment,  mental, 
physical,  or  social,  becomes  apparent  to  friends  or  teach- 
ers. Such  children  exist  to  the  number  of  a  hundred 
thousand  or  more  in  New  York  City,  and  are  in  many 
ways  the  touchstone  of  the  whole  social  need  of  the 
community. 


156       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

The  community  which  becomes  intelligently  conscious 
of  the  existence  of  maladjustment  among  its  children  and 
families,  becomes  through  that  very  act  conscious  of  its 
needs  and  opportunities  as  a  community.  Unadjust- 
ment  may  represent  sub-normality,  abnormality,  or  supra- 
normality;  in  the  ranks  of  unadjusted  people  are  the 
feeble-minded  and  most  of  the  geniuses,  while  a  large 
part  of  the  maladjustment  of  individuals  does  not  begin 
as  a  thing  innate,  but  is  rather  a  matter  of  social  cir- 
cumstance, although  in  due  time  it  becomes  a  psychic 
condition  as  well. 

The  Social  Clinic  for  Unadjusted  Children  is  housed 
in  a  tenement  near  the  school  building,  and  constitutes, 
along  with  the  Community  Clearing  House,  an  annex  to 
the  community  center  of  the  Wingate  School.  The  Com- 
munity Clearing  House  must  be  described  because  it 
represents  a  definite  structural  advance  in  the  process  of 
uniting  community  centers  with  scientific  government. 

The  Community  Clearing  House  is  a  semi-official  in- 
stitution. It  was  established  by  the  Committee  on  Un- 
adjusted Children,  whose  researches  led  also  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Social  Clinic  above  described.  The 
Community  Clearing  House  serves  an  area  of  40  blocks 
and  40,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  83  percent  are  immi- 
grants or  children  of  immigrants.  The  following  public 
departments  cooperate  with  each  other,  with  private 
agencies,  and  with  the  lay  people,  through  the  Clearing 
House:  Hospitals,  Licenses,  Parole  Commission,  Health, 
Children's  Court,  Special  Sessions,  General  Sessions  and 
Magistrates'  Courts,  Charities,  Public  Employment,  Cor- 
rections, Child  Welfare,  Tenement,  Police,  and  various 
divisions  of  the  Department  of  Education.  This  cooper- 
ation is  based  on  cases  and  is  expedited  through  a  staff 
of  workers  at  the  Clearing  House,  through  a  highly-de- 


CITIZEN  COOPERATION  157 

veloped  system  of  records  and  a  functional  directory  of 
all  the  services,  public  or  private,  which  any  human 
need  requires.  Some  paragraphs  from  the  hand-book  of 
the  Clearing  House  may  be  quoted  here,  as  they  relate 
directly  to  the  subject  of  this  chapter: 

Principles  of  the  Community  Clearing  House 

"The  development  of  the  Clearing  House  is  being  guided 
by  the   following  considerations: 

"i.  Public  services  have  undergone  centralization  and 
specialization,  which  are  necessary  measures 
toward  efficiency.  But  this  development  has  not 
been  accompanied  by  a  development  of  local  cen- 
ters, making  it  possible  for  the  citizens  at  large 
to  understand  the  administrative  workings  of  gov- 
ernment or  to  cooperate  in  the  task  of  govern- 
ment. 

"The  human  being,  whose  consciousness  is  a 
unit,  is  operated  on  by  a  multitude  of  compulsions 
and  services,  public  and  private. 

"The  present  need  is  to  focalize  these  minis- 
trations in  such  a  way  that  the  personality  of  the 
individual  who  is  being  guided  or  helped  can  be 
enlisted. 

There  is  a  gulf  between  the  plain  man  and  the 
expert  services  of  his  own  government,  which 
diminishes  the  immediate  results  of  expert  work 
and  threatens  the  permanency  of  scientific  gov- 
ernment. 

"The  Community  Clearing  House  is  a  device 
through  which  it  is  hoped  to  bridge  this  gulf,  with 
the  result  of  making  democracy  real  and  com- 
pleting the  efficiency  of  government  and  of  or- 
ganized social  service. 
"2.  New  York  awaits  a  reconstruction  of  local  com- 
munity life. 


158       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

"Such  reconstruction  will  be  possible  only 
when  continuous  and  intelligent  citizenship  be- 
comes possible. 

"This  citizenship  can  be  realized  only  through 
an  organized  cooperation  between  lay  citizens  and 
experts. 

"The  Community  Clearing  House,  therefore, 
aims  at  a  restoration  of  local  community  life;  it 
has  been  instituted  to  make  possible  the  devel- 
opment of  the  community  center  movement  into 
something  important  and  vital  to  all  the  people. 
"3.  The  people  must  in  the  last  analysis  do  their  so- 
cial services  for  themselves.  The  intimate  group 
must  do  them  for  and  with  the  individual.  So- 
cial service  is  the  process  of  adjusting  everybody 
to  the  ever-changing  community  environment. 
In  this  process,  the  conscious  and  intelligent  self- 
adjustment  of  the  individual,  the  small  group  and 
the  neighborhood  is  the  decisive  factor. 

"It  is  important  that  the  people  have  an  intelli- 
gent sympathy  toward  their  own  government. 
But  it  is  more  important  that  they  be  hospitable 
and  understanding  toward  those  services,  public 
and  private,  which  exist  because  of  widespread 
human  needs  and  which  must  be  willingly  em- 
ployed by  the  people  if  the  human  need  is  to  be 
met.  Ignorance,  resistance,  and  hostility  must 
be  transformed  into  sympathy  and  understand- 
ing. The  individual  and  his  immediate  group 
must  be  led  to  initiate  their  own  improvement. 

"The  Community  Clearing  House  aims  to  cre- 
ate this  new  state  of  mind  among  the  people  and 
to  bring  together  the  resources  which  exist  for 
the  people  and  which  should  exist  of  and  by  the 
people;  which  shouU  be  taken  into  the  hearts  of 
the  people  and  ma^e  a  part  of  the  every-day 
striving  of  the  people. 


CITIZEN  COOPERATION  159 

*'It  is  still  a  true  thing  that  self-help  is  the 
best  help.  All  help  in  matters  of  education  and 
morals  is  only  a  preliminary  to  self-help. 

"The  Community  Clearing  House  is,  therefore, 
a  carefully  thought-out  instrument  for  self- 
help." 

Above  is  sketched  the  community  center  of  the  East 
Gramercy  district  of  New  York, 

A  Cooperative  Synthetic  Agency  Binding  Govern- 
ment and  People  Together. — Some  outstanding  points 
may  be  mentioned  about  this  center. 

In  the  first  place  its  activity  looks  both  ways — ^toward 
the  expert  and  toward  the  layman.  It  is  a  synthesis  of 
expert  and  lay  initiative  and  of  expert  and  lay  interest. 

In  the  second  place  it  represents  not  a  few  people, 
whether  lay  or  expert,  but  masses  of  people.  The  inter- 
ests are  such  that  almost  every  mental  stratum  in  the 
community  is  penetrated;  there  are  incentives  and  there 
is  a  visible  need  for  the  talent  scattered  among  all 
social  classes  and  all  kinds  of  groups. 

In  the  third  place,  this  center,  while  incorporating 
recreation,  actually  binds  up  together  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  all  the  services  which  are  being  carried  out  by 
New  York  City  and  County  within  its  area.  Contacts 
are  not  merely  occasional  and  are  not  just  in  the  nature 
of  exhortations  by  orators  representing  municipal  de- 
partments, addressed  to  forum  audiences.  The  paid  civil 
servants — tenement  inspectors,  health  officials  of  various 
divisions,  truant  officers,  patrolmen — are  in  organized 
contact  with  the  center  not  merely  as  human  beings  but 
as  experts  representing  the  major  public  services  of 
New  York. 

Finally  and  of  great  importance — the  center  is  not  a 


i6o       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

hodge-podge  of  individuals,  but  a  constellation  of  groups 
which  operate  under  their  own  leadership,  which  carry 
forward  their  own  primary  interests  while  functioning 
more  broadly  in  the  community  life.  The  intimate  group 
is  always  the  standardizing  agency  so  far  as  character, 
habits  and  points  of  view  are  concerned;  the  intimate 
group  has  been  the  missing  link  in  our  theory  and  prac- 
tice of  Jeffersonian  democracy,  though  this  criticism  does 
not  hold  good  of  Tammany  Hall. 

A  Continuation  School  for  Training  for  Public  Ser- 
vice.— Such  a  community  center  is  a  training  school 
for  citizenship  in  general  and  for  expert  civic  service  in 
particular.  It  is  a  continuation  school  for  the  existing 
civil  servants  operating  through  it.  It  is  a  laboratory 
where  prospective  civic  specialists  are  actually  being 
trained  day  by  day.  For  (incidentally)  this  center  is 
the  practice  ground  of  the  Training  School  for  Com- 
munity Workers  in  New  York.  The  profounder  value 
of  such  a  community  center  does  not  lie  in  its  education 
of  present  or  future  governmental  experts.  It  lies  in 
the  creation  of  an  intelligent  affection  among  people  at 
large,  directed  toward  the  significant  policies  and  espe- 
cially the  complicated  administrative  service  of  govern- 
ment. 

The  Cost  of  the  Community  Center. — Before  put- 
ting behind  us  this  illustrative  case  it  should  be  stated 
that  the  cost  of  operating  this  many-sided  enterprise  is 
at  the  present  writing  (May,  191 7)  divided  as  follows: 
New  York  City  grants  the  building  and  janitorial  ser- 
vices free  of  cost.  One  executive  secretary,  who  re- 
ceives $1,800  a  year,  is  employed  by  a  promoting  com- 
mittee, and  all  further  expenses  other  than  the  salaries 


CITIZEN  COOPERATION  i6i 

of  night  school  teachers  for  about  two-thirds  of  the  year, 
are  borne  by  the  actual  participants  in  the  community 
enterprise.  The  overhead  services  of  the  Community 
Clearing  House  and  Social  Clinic,  necessary  until  new 
standards  and  habits  are  worked  out,  cost  about  $10,000 
a  year;  this  expenditure  is  necessitated  by  the  fact  that 
the  Community  Clearing  House  has  been  compelled  to 
re-survey  the  public  and  private  social  services  of  New 
York,  to  create  a  wholly  new  directory  of  resources,  and 
to  perform  other  services  which  need  never  be  duplicated 
as  successive  local  clearing  houses  are  established. 

11.  The  Community  Center  and  Expert  City 
Government 

All  the  work  which  has  been  above  described,  or  work 
of  like  significance,  is  to  be  found,  in  whole  or  in  part,  in 
the  following  cities  at  least :  Philadelphia,  Buffalo,  Akron, 
Chicago,  Dallas,  The  Locust  Point  district  of  Baltimore ; 
and  in  varying  measures  in  a  score  of  the  New  York 
community  centers  and  in  the  health  centers  of  the 
Borough  of  Queens  in  New  York  and  the  original  ex- 
perimental health  district  in  Manhattan  Borough.  In 
other  words,  a  widespread  and  determined  public  move- 
ment is  giving  rise  in  various  parts  of  America  to  a  new 
type  of  institution  which  is  destined  to  aid  in  creating  a 
new  citizenship  and  a  new  university  of  public  service. 

Fitting  Citizenship  for  its  Larger  Tasks  through 
the  Local  Environment. — Three  considerations  may 
be  stated  as  explaining  the  community  center  movement. 
They  are  all  relevant  to  the  question  of  training  for 
public  service. 

First  is  the  pathetic  need  of  Americans  to  get  nearer 


I  i 


162       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

to  the  sources  of  power,  governmental  and  industrial. 
We  insist  on  believing  that  we  do  control  our  own  desti- 
nies. We  know  that  great  destinies  are  being  shaped 
for  good  or  ill.  We  want  to  get  together  and  do  some- 
thing about  it  and  we  naturally  get  together  with  the 
people  we  know  and  in  places  accessible  to  our  homes. 
The  forum  and  community  center  are  outcomes. 
/  The  second  consideration  is  not  formulated  in  many 
I  minds,  but  is  implicit  in  thousands  of  minds.  It  re- 
ceives the  fullest  statement  in  Sumner's  thesis  on  Folk- 
ways, as  again  in  J.  G.  Frazer's  simple  and  profound 
essay  on  The  Scope  of  Social  Anthropology.  It  is 
equally  a  component  in  the  modern  philosophic  impulse 
which  is  called  radical  empiricism,  pragmatism,  and 
humanism,  especially  as  stated  by  William  James  and 
above  all  by  John  Dewey.  The  concept  is  as  follows. 
Knowledge  and  truth  are  adaptations  through  which 
the  individual  makes  himself  into  an  effective  functional 
being,  always  with  reference  to  a  particular  environment. 
The  objective  truth,  and  still  more  the  emotional  and 
ethical  truth,  which  are  wrought  through  the  process  of 
adaptation  to  one  environment,  are  not  necessarily  true 
any  measure  whatever  of  some  other  environment, 
pplied  to  the  question  of  citizenship  or  of  intelligent 
democracy  or  of  the  new  world  morality,  this  principle — 
this  psychological  axiom — would  be  stated  in  terms  like 
the  following.  The  ways  of  thinking  and  feeling,  the 
intuitions  of  what  is  good,  true,  and  worth-while,  which 
the  individual  becomes  capable  of  in  his  domestic,  inti- 
mate, and  local  environment,  will  fit  him  for  the  larger 
political  world  only  if  the  two  worlds  are  alike.  They 
must  not  only  be  alike  in  some  remote  philosophic  sense, 
but  they  must  feel  alike.  Men — the  men  whom  we  em- 
pirically know — are  automatic  beings  in  the  main  and  in 


CITIZEN  COOPERATION  163 

the  long  run.  Their  emotions,  sentiments,  and  ideals  are 
growths,  or,  to' restate  the  modern  doctrine,  they  are 
adaptations  to  particular  environments. 

If  the  political  complex  in  which  plain  men  are  called 
on  to  function  is  radically  different  from  the  domestic 
complexes  in  which  they  have  learned  to  function,  they 
will  function  not  only  wildly,  but,  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  political  world,  perversely  and  wickedly.  This 
is  the  condition  that  holds  throughout  America  to-day 
and  it  explains  the  gulf  lying  between  the  point  of  view 
of  the  man  on  the  street  and  the  point  of  view  of  that 
expert  of  government  who  has  inherited  the  slowly 
gathered  tradition  of  professional  method  and  profes- 
sional ideals  which,  under  civil  service  and  under  the 
mere  continuity  of  our  governmental  activity,  are  being 
built  up. 

Occasionally  some  intense  and  prolonged  shock  pene- 
trates down  through  the  whole  mass  of  a  nation,  and 
the  rank  and  file  experience  a  collective  emotion  and  col- 
lective will  which  accords  with  the  dominant  national 
need.  We  have  seen  this  event  take  place  in  Europe 
in  the  past  two  years  and  are  witnessing  the  beginning 
of  an  identical  process  in  America  to-day.  These  in- 
tense and  prolonged  shocks  cannot,  however,  be  relied 
on  for  the  maintenance  of  social  consciousness  over  any 
long  period  of  time.     They  are  too  expensive. 

Bridging  the  Chasm  between  Expert  and  Popular 
States  of  Mind. — What,  then,  is  the  community  center 
in  relation  to  the  above  principle?  The  community 
center  first  cultivates  the  leisure  interests  of  the  people. 
Through  discussion,  through  drama,  through  other  col- 
lective expressions,  it  does  gradually  modify  the  bent  of 
feeling,  the  state  of  anticipation  of  its  constituency. 


i64       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

This  important  step  is  a  preliminary  to  the  application 
of  the  aroused  interests  to  the  performance  of  tasks. 
What  are  these  tasks  to  be?  If  they  can  be  made  ex- 
citing and  important,  and  if  they  can  represent  the  mean- 
ing and  purposes  of  government  or  of  "society,"  we 
shall  at  last  have  bridged  the  chasm  between  popular 
states  of  mind  and  expert  states  of  mind,  between  the 
folkways  and  the  needs  of  purposeful  society. 

By  Correlation  with  Governmental  Administration. 

— It  is  plain  that  an  occasional  voting  contest  does  not 
provide  the  environment  to  which  plain  men  can  adapt 
in  the  process  of  acquiring  social  truth.  This  process 
must,  go  on  day  by  day.  It  must  be  primarily  related  to 
the  administrative  services  of  government,  and  not  pri- 
marily to  the  political  struggles  of  government.  It  is 
enough  to  take  the  following  departments,  in  order  that 
we  may  see  the  richness  of  government  in  continuous 
human  interest  and  continuous  opportunity  for  using  lay 
service :  education,  health,  corrections,  the  administration 
of  public  recreation,  city  planning.  We  have  still  the 
whole  field  of  police  activity,  if  these  interests  are  not 
enough.  All  that  is  said  here  subtracts  nothing  from 
the  importance  of  the  "lining  up"  of  public  opinion  on  the 
broader  political  issues  which  divide  classes.  But  so 
long  as  the  common  man  has  his  public  experience  only 
in  campaigns  and  in  the  pursuit  of  far-away  programs, 
he  does  not  adapt  himself  to  the  realities  of  government's 
work  and  usually  he  becomes  merely  a  bundle  of  resist- 
ance to  the  programs  of  other  groups  than  his  own  and 
to  the  quiet  constructive  work  of  the  permanent  public 
servants  who  are  doing  most  of  the  things  government 
will  ever  do. 

This    second    consideration    explains    why    the    com- 


CITIZEN  COOPERATION  165 

munity  center,  beginning  in  some  instances  as  a 
recreation  place  and  in  other  instances  as  a  forum, 
passes  on  (if  it  survives  at  all)  into  a  serious  and  ser- 
viceable relation  with  particular  departments  of  the 
activity  of  government.  This  transition  goes  ahead 
unconsciously,  although  it  is  being  pushed  by  some  lead- 
ers of  the  movement,  w^hile  there  are  others  who  fear 
that  the  new  impulse  will  be  flooded  under  by  too  many 
work-a-day  interests. 

By  Transfer  of  Emphasis  from  Things  to  Men. — 

The  third  consideration  making  for  community  centers 
is  more  obvious  and  more  fundamental  than  either  of  the 
two  which  have  been  stated.  It  relates  to  the  changed 
direction  of  public  attention,  which  is  shifting  from 
things  to  men.  For  a  century  and  a  half  the  best  powers 
of  our  western  world  have  been  concentrated  on  the 
production  and  distribution  of  wealth  through  the 
methods  of  power  machinery,  specialization  and  large 
unit  organization.  These  are  the  right  methods  where 
we  are  making  things  out  of  raw  material  or  distributing 
finished  products.  It  is  the  right  method  because  mate- 
rials do  not  cooperate  with  our  work  of  shaping  them; 
neither  do  they  resist ;  they  have  no  memories,  no  antici- 
pations, and  no  self -activity. 

So  we  have  forged  out  an  intricate  and  correct  technic ; 
and  in  our  development  of  government,  we  have  naively 
imitated  the  efficiency  of  the  industry  which  deals  with 
things.  Government  also  deals  with  things,  and  in  this 
measure  it  is  proceeding  on  right  lines  when  it  duplicates 
the  methods  of  modern  material  business.  But  the 
important  work  of  government  has  to  do  with  men  rather 
than  things.  Government  is  shaping  and  re-shaping 
human  material,  and  we  have  executed  the  amazing  feat 


■v^ 


i66       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

of  not  realizing  that  human  material,  unlike  non-human 
material,  must  cooperate  in  its  own  shaping.  Nothing 
is  efficiently  done  with  men  which  fails  to  enlist  their 
personalities.  The  complicated  human  services  of  gov- 
ernment, modeled  on  factory  efficiency,  cannot,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  enlist  the  personalities  of  the  human 
beings  on  whom  these  services  are  operating. 

Bureaucracy  or  Decentralization. — This  is  a  new 
angle  on  the  centralization  question.  Our  government 
.has  multiplied  its  undertakings  through  the  recognition 
of  one  after  another  patent  human  need.  It  has  de- 
vised services  to  meet  this  need.  Then  it  has  bureau- 
cratized  and  centralized  the  services.  Each  human  being 
experiences  many  needs*  but  each  experiences  most  of 
all  his  own  personality,  his  continuity  of  memory  and 
hope,  his  emotional  dispositions  toward  this  and  that.  In 
most  American  cities  to-day  we  can  find  the  following 
special  services  of  government,  operated  from  remote 
bureaus,  touching  occasionally  on  a  typical  individual  or 
family:  compulsory  attendance,  infant  nursing,  conta- 
gious disease  service,  housing  inspection,  sundry  enter- 
prises of  formal  education.  In  most  American  cities  we 
find  that  these  services,  while  each  one  of  them  is  more  or 
less  efficient  from  the  standpoint  of  central  and  bureau- 
cratic organization,  are  uncorrelated  so  far  as  the  case 
in  question  is  concerned,  and  are  unintelligible  so  far  as 
the  individual  in  question  is  concerned. 

Our  problem,  therefore,  is  to  devise  some  method  by 
which  science,  which  means  specialization,  can  be  brought 
to  bear  in  cooperation  with  the  individual  who  is  being 
molded.  This  means  that  it  must  be  brought  to  bear- 
in  cooperation  with  the  small  group  of  which  he  is  a 
member  and  within  the  neighborhood  where  he  works  or 


CITIZEN  COOPERATION  167 

dwells.  It  means  that  there  must  be  a  new  kind  of 
team  work  between  specialists.  We  are  driven  forcibly 
toward  the  conception  of  local  administrative  units,  but 
these  will  still  not  get  a  human  response  unless  the  people 
as  members  of  groups  are  brought  into  contact  with  the 
services. 

So  the  efficiency  motive,  which  produced  centraliza- 
tion, is  now  beginning  to  drive  toward  a  decentralization 
which  need  not  involve  any  loss  of  the  values  of  cen- 
tralization. It  is  only  a  matter  of  intelligent  discrimina- 
tion based  on  experience  which  has  yet  to  be  gained,  to 
decide  which  services  ought  to  be  locally  administered 
and  which  centrally  administered,  which  services  ought 
to  be  left  to  the  expert  who  will  come  when  called 
and  which  services  ought  to  be  left  to  the  more  general- 
ized public  servant  who,  like  the  family  doctor,  can 
take  care  of  that  multitude  of  obvious  things  which  do 
not  require  a  consulting  expert  or  the  heavy  machinery 
of  a  diagnostic  laboratory  or  hospital  or  institution  for 
their  treatment. 

A  Rapprochement. — As  government  is  being  driven 
out  toward  the  local  community,  so,  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  laity,  the  people  are  being  driven  toward  govern- 
ment, and  many  community  centers  are  to-day  rich  with 
examples  of  the  workability  of  the  new  method. 

What  all  these  considerations  mean  in  training  for 
public  service,  can  only  be  left  to  the  thinking  reader. 
They  would  require  many  chapters  for  explicit  state- 
ment. All  that  is  here  said  would  be  banal  if  it  were 
merely  a  spinning  of  theory.  It  is  significant,  however 
obscurely  it  may  have  been  said,  because  it  is  a  statement 
of  the  experiences  of  community  centers  in  New  York 
and  elsewhere  during  the  last  five  years. 


CHAPTER  X 

INTERPRETING   EXPERT   GOVERNMENT   TO  THE 
CITIZENSHIP 

Making  Citizens  Understand  via  Official  Publicity 

TWO  years  after  Greater  New  York  took  its  first 
decisive  step  toward  "government  by  experts"  there 
was  sporadic  complaint  from  people  who  had  not  yet 
comprehended  that  it  is  no  kindness  to  the  public  or  to 
public  employees  to  continue  unnecessary  persons  on  a 
city's  payroll. 

"To  hell  with  reform,"  was  one  of  the  milder  exple- 
tives which  crept  into  newspaper  letters  pro  bono  publico 
and  even  into  editorials.  Instead  of  resenting  such  ex- 
pressions and  heaping  contumely  upon  the  applicants,  one 
of  the  chief  advocates  of  government  for  results  rather 
than  for  parties  issued  a  pamphlet  of  concrete  explana- 
tions and  called  it  To  Hell  with  Reform,  or  Municipal 
Reform  through  Revision  of  Business  Methods.  The 
keynote  of  this  explanation  was  the  following  valedic- 
tory : 

Only  a  Beginning 

It  takes  months  and  years  to  give  up  old  habits  and  to 
acquire  new  habits. 

There  are  still  superfluous  officeholders;  the  great  major- 
ity of  citizens  still  have  a  fatalistic  belief  that  government 
must  be  less  competent  and  less  honesty  than  private  busi- 
ness. 

i68 


INTERPRETING  EXPERT  GOVERNMENT      169 

Just  as  surely  as  night  follows  day,  these  business  reforms 
will  be  wiped  out  like  sand  drawings  on  New  York  City's 
beaches,  unless  the  small  percentage  who  now  comprehend 
these  business  changes  persist  in  their  support  until  those 
who  understand  them  will  outnumber  those  who  do  not  un- 
derstand them. 

The  forecast  proved  prophetic  not  only  for  municipaf 
reforms  but  for  the  civic  agency  which  expressed  itself 
that  way  in  191 1.  Three  years  later  when  expert  gov- 
ernment was  reelected  on  pledges  to  complete  the  task 
of  putting  New  York  City  on  a  business  basis,  this  same 
agency,  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  had  three 
paralytic  strokes:  (i)  It  decided  to  stop  keeping  the 
public  informed  about  government  deficiencies,  break- 
downs, weaknesses, — has  been  publicly  silent  regard- 
ing such  grave  menaces  as  the  New  York  Central  Grab  / 
but  privately  favorable;  (2)  It  discontinued  its  school  j 
service  and  its  publicity  for  non-expert  taxpayers;  (3) 
Forgetting  that  in  its  teaching  days  it  had  issued  a 
pamphlet  with  so  startling  a  title  as  To  Hell  with  Re- 
form, it  publicly  renounced  what  it  called  the  sensation- 
alism of  such  earlier  titles  as  Civicity,  Like  Charity,  Be- 
gins at  Home;  No  Matter  Who's  Elected,  etc. 

Current  Information  or  Misunderstanding,  Mistrust,' 
Reaction. — Recent  events  in  Greater  New  York  show, 
as  does  the  experience  in  every  other  city,  that  where 
the  public  is  not  currently  helped  to  understand,  not  only 
will  and  must  the  public  misunderstand  and  mistrust 
even  government  by  e"xperts,  but  those  very  experts 
themselves  almost  inevitably  acquire  contempt  for  the 
public's  ability  and  right  to  understand  expert  govern- 
ment.    Thus  advance  steps  are  jeopardized  and  resent- 


170       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

ment  engendered  in  proportion  to  the  proved  ability  of 
experts  to  be  of  help  if  they  want  to  be.  For  where  is 
the  public  which  would  not  rather  have  bad  government 
by  blunderbusses  than  bad  government  by  experts  ? 

To  illustrate:  New  York  City  has  for  ten  years  been 
trying  to  find  a  way  "to  end  Death  Avenue"  and  to 
remove  the  New  York  Central's  tracks  on  the  West  Side 
of  Manhattan  from  view  and  sound.  When  the  latest 
plans  for  improving  the  West  Side  were  first  announced 
to  the  public  in  1916  they  were  found  to  be  misquoted 
and  misillustrated.  A  photograph  which  claimed  to 
show  how  Riverside  Park  would  look  after  the  improve- 
ment was  completed,  attractively  but  extensively  lied  for 
it  represented  new  parking  to  the  Hudson  River's  edge, 
whereas  the  agreement  itself  called  for  parking  only 
where  the  present  park  was  to  be  dug  up  and  despoiled. 
The  words  of  the  agreement  were  correspondingly  muti- 
lated: to  the  water's  edge  was  added  and  enough  was 
substituted  for  $300,000,  i.e.,  not  enough!  It  was  later 
stated  by  the  comptroller  that  this  publicity  was  written 
by  "some  one  outside  the  city  government." 

Several  lessons  as  to  expert  government's  publicity 
crop  out  from  the  surface  of  this  single  illustration : 

I — The  expertness  of  publicity  sometimes  lies  in  the  fact 
that  it  lies. 

2 — Expert  publicity  that  lies  or  evades  is  inexpert  so  far 
as  it  pretends  to  represent  the  public. 

3 — Expert  sponsoring  of  publicity  may  cover  up  inexpert- 
ness  or  anti-government  origin  of  publicity. 

4_No  official  publicity  is  expert  in  the  public's  esteem 
which  fails  to  help  the  public  understand. 

5 — Expert  government  publicity  when  incomplete,  mis- 
leading or  false  can  be  far  more  mischievous  than  publicity 


INTERPRETING  EXPERT  GOVERNMENT       171 

by  inexpert  government  simply  because  the  former  per  se 
carries  more  weight. 

Credit  and  Debit  Publicity. — It  would  be  unfair  to 
New  York  City's  government  by  experts  to  read  from 
the  foregoing  illustration  anything  not  specifically  con- 
tained in  it.  Equally  striking  illustrations  of  truly  and 
nobly  expert  publicity  are  furnished  by  New  York  City's 
expert  governors.  If  only  the  credit  side  of  the  ledger 
is  looked  at  it  is  doubtful  if  anywhere  else  in  the  world 
can  a  municipal  government  be  found  which  has  in  so 
many  different  ways  at  so  many  different  times  more 
frankly  or  more  expertly  tried  to  throw  the  spotlight  of 
frank  analysis  and  reiterated  publicity  upon  community 
needs  and  government  acts: 

Education  through  follow-up. 

Education  through  cartoons. 

Education  through  traveling  exhibits. 

Education  through  central  budget  exhibits. 

Education  through  noon  and  afternoon  and  dinner  and 
after-dinner  speeches. 

Education  through  special  stories  for  newspapers  and 
weekly  news  releases,  and  weekly  printed  bulletins. 

Education  through  illustrated  annual  reports  and  through 
accounts  of  stewardship  as  by  Mayor  Mitchel  via  the  com- 
mittee of  107  which  nominated  him  to  the  whole  public. 

Education  through  budget  analysis  and  budget  hearings. 

In  fact  education  of  the  public  has  been  found  so  pro- 
ductive of  support  that  the  public  has  been  over-educated 
as  to  the  merits  of  expert  government  and  has  been  lulled 
by  friendly  zephyrs  and  self-starter  bouquets  into  numb- 
ness that  temporarily  prevents  its  appreciating  the  need 
for  equally  frank  publicity  about  needs  neglected. 

It  is  not  strange  that  expert  government  has  not  yet 


172       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

worked  out  a  correct  balance  between  public  explanation 
of  its  service  and  public  admission  of  service  not  yet 
rendered.  It  is  time-consuming  work  to  be  an  expert 
governor  of  even  a  small  city.  City  managers,  for  ex- 
ample, have  about  all  they  can  do  to  take  care  of  their 
daily  work  and  to  prevent  successful  charges  against 
their  work  without  worrying  lest  some  one  shall  trust 
them  too  far  and  overrate  their  contribution. 

Here  is  where  citizen  agencies  and  the  press  have  both 
opportunity  and  obligation.  They  can  see  official  service 
with  perspective  that  is  impossible  for  those  who  are 
themselves  rendering  the  service.  They  can  tell  frankly 
where  the  future  of  efficient  government  is  being  jeopar- 
dized by  want  of  public  understanding  or  by  lack  of 
official  merit. 

The  most  we  can  expect  public  officials  themselves  to 
do  is  to  be  frank  in  recognizing  when  and  where  the 
public  is  not  correctly  informed  as  to  their  merits. 
When  a  citizen  agency  proposed  to  the  New  York  board 
of  estimate  and  apportionment  that  public  misunder- 
standing of  the  West  Side  Improvement  Plan  should  be 
treated  not  by  debating  tactics,  but  by  education  via  a 
pamphlet  which  would  take  up  one  opposing  argument  at 
a  time  with  its  answer,  the  board  at  once  admitted  the 
probable  helpfulness  of  substituting  information  for  con- 
troversy. Wherever  officials  refuse  to  face  frankly  any 
breakdown  in  their  own  work  or  any  gaps  in  public 
understanding,  there  is  need  for  citizen  publicity  to  sup- 
plement incorrect  official  publicity. 

Publicity  by  expert  government  when  limited  to  pre- 
election weeks  will  be  found  a  boomerang  for  expert- 
ness.  There  is  not  time  during  election  for  a  city  man- 
ager whose  work  is  misunderstood  to  get  before  his 
community  the  facts  necessary  to  prevent  successful  mis- 


INTERPRETING  EXPERT  GOVERNMENT       173 

representation  of  the  commission  which  hired  him.  ^  I 
beHeve  there  will  be  many  ups  and  downs  in  city  manager 
cities  just  because  the  expert  governors  feel  reluctant 
"to  blow  their  own  horn."  Nevertheless,  I  believe  re- 
sults are  certain  to  show  that  any  voting  body  which 
has  not  been  informed  via  small  doses  cumulatively 
throughout  a  manager's  term,  will  be  even  more  suscep- 
tible to  the  poison  of  misrepresentation  than  communi- 
ties which  have  never  had  expert  government. 

Not  Lip  Service,  but  Street  Service,  Health  Service, 
City  Service. — On  the  other  hand,  where  a  city  man- 
ager government  has  done  its  work  in  the  open  through- 
out its  term,  it  will  be  vastly  harder  to  misrepresent  it 
successfully  and  to  confuse  electors  just  because  its 
service  is  not  lip  service  but  street  service,  health  service, 
water  service,  tax  service,  etc. 

An  illuminating  illustration  of  this  was  furnished  last 
fall  by  St.  Augustine,  Florida  (Winton  L.  Miller,  City 
Manager),  where  the  public  voted  confidence  in  the 
city  manager  plan  by  double  the  vote  with  which  it  was 
installed. 

The  danger  that  expert  government  will  be  misunder-  I 
stood  unless  its  concrete  services  are  advertised  as  per- 
sistently as  commercial  projects  are  advertised  has  been  \ 
recognized  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  the  first  large  city  to  try  the  1 
city  manager  plan.     Several  methods  have  been  used  by^ 
the  government  itself  and  by  business  men  to  make  sure 
that  the  contrast  between  "government  by  deficit"  and 
"government  by  City  Manager  Waite"  shall  be  unevad- 
ably  explained  to   voters.     When  necessary  to   secure 
popular  vote  for  the  current  operation  budget  and  per- 
manent improvement  budget.  Manager  Waite  prepared 
complete  and  dramatic  contrasts  from  official  records. 


174   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

These  contrasts  were  explained  by  the  manager  himself 
to  workmen  in  factory  after  factory,  to  groups  of  busi- 
ness men,  to  people  on  street  corners,  and  to  churches 
and  clubs.  They  were  further  explained  very  drama- 
tically in  public  exhibits,  cart-tail  speeches,  film  stories, 
exhibit  placards,  and  the  contrasts  were  again  brought 
into  prominence  through  newspapers,  news  and  edito- 
rials. The  Rotary  Club  took  a  hand  and  mobilized  the 
manager  and  other  officers  and  business  men  who  had 
learned  the  story.  Later  the  Bureau  of  Research  ran 
a  series  of  full  page  paid  advertisements  with  illustra- 
tions and  facts.  On  top  of  this  a  series  of  bulletins  was 
started  by  the  Bureau  of  Research  with  the  frank 
avowal : 

Good  government  is  not  automatic;  it  does  not  furnish  its 
own  motive  power.  It  produces  maximum  results  only 
when  all  the  people  interest  themselves  in  it.  Unless  all 
citizens  interest  themselves,  it  is  a  case  of  "everybody's 
business  being  nobody's  business" — except  the  politician's. 

An  organized  campaign  of  education — based  only  upon 
facts  about  service  rendered — should  be  conducted  in  sup- 
port of  our  present  form  of  government. 

Not  for  a  minute  may  experts  safely  assume  that  their 
communities  are  going  to  be  saved  by  the  information 
or  efficiency  which  they  themselves  possess.  On  the 
contrary,  the  information  that  counts  is  the  information 
which  reaches  those  for  whom  government  exists,  i.e., 
the  pubHc. 

Experts,  public  or  private,  are  excellent  for  absorb- 
ing as  well  as  for  reflecting  public  interest  and  public  in- 
formation. It  frequently  happens  that  expertness,  scien- 
tific reporting,  scientific  accounting  and  scientific  manage- 
ment become  a  menace  instead  of  a  help  because  men  of 
science  fail  to  keep  in  touch  with  unscientific  minds. 


INTERPRETING  EXPERT  GOVERNMENT      175 

Unescapable  Information,  Not  Merely  Obtainable 
Information! — Expert  government's  pub licitx_can  no- 
where be  effective  which  does  not  act  upon  the  same   Un  y 
principles  that  private  advertising  has  adopted  for  the 
selling  of  goods: 

I — Put  your  information  where  it  will  be  seen.  Y  i 

2 — Write  it  so  the  people  will  read  it  with  understanding.    /\  A 
3 — Tell  the  truth  so  that  people  will  keep  on  believing.      /  '^  ' 

It  is  unescapable  information,  not  obtainable  informa- 
tion, that  keeps  the  public  from  misunderstanding  and 
repudiating  expert  government. 

Nor  may  experts  safely  forget  that  they  are  not  the 
whole  of  the  government  for  which  they  are  responsible. 
They  cannot  impart  what  they  do  not  possess ;  they  can- 
not possess  all  the  necessary  truth  about  their  own  work 
unless  their  co-workers  and  subordinates  possess  and  feel 
for  that  truth.  Thus  it  happens  that  those  experts  will 
be  most  effective  in  publicity  who  are,  first,  most  effective 
in  doing,  and  who  are,  secondly,  sure  that  their  own  sub- 
ordinates clear  down  to  the  rank  and  file  know  and  tell 
the  essential  facts  about  their  government's  service. 

Because  the  fate  of  so  many  reports  is  the  scrap  heap 
or  shelf  heap,  officials  still  quite  generally  write  quarterly 
and  annual  reports  on  the  assumption  that  few,  if  any, 
persons  will  read  them,  especially  that  few  taxpayers  will 
read  them.  Naturally  there  has  been  a  catering  to  the 
organized  demand  from  colleagues  in  similar  work  for 
comparative  information.  Thus  police  commissioners  are 
apt  to  write  their  reports  for  other  police  commissioners 
and  not  for  local  officers  or  public.  It  is  surprising  how 
many  college  presidents  really  address  their  reports  to 
other  college  presidents  or  to  the  big  foundations,  instead 


V\N 


176       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

of  to  the  constituency  which  furnishes  them  with  children 
and  ought  to  furnish  them  with  money. 

It  is  not  fear  of  interesting  but  fear  of  being  charged 
with  trying  to  interest,  which  palsies  the  reporting  hand 
and  freezes  the  imagination.  When  Mayor  Mitchel 
printed  his  report  to  the  Citizens'  Committee  of  107  on 
his  first  two  years  there  were  no  photographs,  no 
attempts  of  any  kind  to  hold  the  unwilling  auditor. 
When,  however,  the  committee  issued  for  free  popular 
H  I  consumption  a  digest  of  Mayor  Mitchel's  speech  it  used 

(large  type,  much  black  facing  and  many  attractive  and 

'  informing  illustrations. 

-  "Plain  Talk"  to  Citizens. — Perhaps  the  most  notable 
departure  in  official  circles  from  traditional  reporting  is 
the  1914  report  of  Morris  Llewellyn  Cooke,  director  of 
public  works,  Philadelphia,  from  1912  to  1916.  This 
report  has  significance  because  of  its  content — a  merito- 
rious textbook,  a  sort  of  first  aid  to  the  injured  and 
about  to  be  injured  among  reporters  and  reportees, 
whether  inside  or  outside  public  office.  It  is  moreover 
especially  significant  because  Mr.  Cooke  is  not  a  yellow 
journalist  or  a  butterfly  or  a  susceptible  Simple  Simon. 
Instead,  he  is  a  well  known  scientist;  he  was  chosen  by 
the  Carnegie  Foundation  to  make  its  report  on  academic 
and  industrial  efficiency;  he  is  executive  officer  of  a 
national  bureau  whose  claim  for  support  is  that  it  gives 
scientific,  impartial  information  regarding  public  utilities ; 
_upgn_him  perhaps  more  than  any  other  has.  jajlen  the 
mantle  of  scientific  management  left  by  F.  W.  Taylor. 
He  has  no  income-need  for  public  office. 

But  you  just  ought  to  see  what  he  thinks  of  publicity 
by  and  for  expert  government!  What  Mr.  Cooke  found 
dignified  enough,  plain  enough  and  interesting  enough 


INTERPRETING  EXPERT  GOVERNMENT      I77 

for  the  public  works  department  of  Philadelphia  is  worth 
studying  by  citizen  agencies  of  information  and  by  others 
in  the  now  large  army  of  persons  trying  to  interest  the 
American  public  in  what  happens  to  their  money  when 
spent  in  government,  philanthropy,  and  busihess,  and 
what  happens  to  the  public  because  of  that  spending. 

Plain  Talk  (25  point,  ff)  is  the  title.  Where  there  is 
^o  vision  the  people  perish  (ff)  are  the  last  words  on 
page  108.  On  the  cover  inconspicuously  in  the  lower 
right  hand  is  Report  of  director,  department  of  public 
works,  Philadelphia,  1914  (8  point).  In  full  face  type 
above  an  appealing  quotation  from  William  Penn  and 
under  the  title  are  the  following: 

Economies  Public  Singing 

Gas  Works  Drinking  Water 

Pigeons  Street  Cleaning 

Good  Roads  Bridges 

Sign  Boards  Contracts 

Garbage  Band  Music 

City  Plan  Public  Utilities 

Graft  Street  Lighting 

Marketing  Water  Waste 

And  Other  Things 

of  General  Interest 

Then  follows  the  foreword  which  Mr.  Woodruff  has 
already  quoted  in  his  chapter  in  "The  New  View  of 
Municipal  Government,"  ^  to  which  is  attached  the 
postscript :     "At  least  look  at  the  pictures !" 

The  first  photograph  is  that  of  a  pigeon  making  a  nest 
in  a  window  box  passed  by  100,000  people  each  day — ^to 
typify  the  importance  of  not  being  distracted  from  the 
main  purpose  of  public  service.  Throughout  the  volume 
are  other  photographs  of  before  and  after  work — build- 

^See  p.  7. 


178       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

ings ;  streets ;  workers  at  work  and  workers  banqueting ; 
changes  of  type;  cartoons;  jingles;  facsimile  letters; 
copies  and  explanations  of  official  records.  Never,  how- 
ever, for  one  line  is  the  reader  allowed  to  forget  that  the 
purpose  of  this  report  is  to  give  the  reader  information 
that  belongs  to  him,  that  will  help  him,  and  that  is  needed 
by  him. 

If  other  agencies  of  information,  particularly  those 
paid  for  by  citizens,  had  used  similar  methods  of  inform- 
ing the  public,  Philadelphia  might  possibly  have  changed 
officers,  but  certainly  would  never  accept  a  lower  standard 
of  public  service  or  of  public  information. 

Essay  Statements,  Bromidic  Comments  and  Quota- 
tions.— A  striking  example  of  inexpert  publicity  by 
experts  is  afforded  by  the  latest  annual  report  of  the 
United  States  bureau  of  education.  Its  summary  of 
work  done  throughout  the  country  for  20,000,000  children 
in  elementary  schools  is  signed  by  a  government  specialist 
in  school  systems.  Yet  only  nine  pages  in  all  are  given 
to  this  most  important  of  educational  fields  and  these 
are  taken  up  with  essay  material,  bromidic  comments  and 
quotations  from  other  pamphlets. 

Of  15  pages  in  the  commissioner's  own  report  seven 
consist  of  quotations  from  a  letter  previously  written. 
In  fact,  if  purely  perfunctory  matter  is  subtracted  and 
matter  which  bears  all  the  earmarks  of  being  supplied  by 
some  clerk,  it  is  doubtful  if  the  commissioner  of  educa- 
tion for  100,000,000  people  took  the  equivalent  of  two 
hours  in  preparing  his  annual  statement.  Yet  that  state- 
ment listed  23  different  alleged  nation-wide  needs 
dependent  upon  the  United  States  bureau.  What  it  would 
cost  to  provide  for  those  needs  and  to  finance  the  broad 
program  suggested  is  not  even  hinted.     Facts  justifying 


INTERPRETING  EXPERT  GOVERNMENT       179 

the  claims  for  the  bureau  are  utterly  lacking,  yet  the 
work  of  the  United  States  bureau  is  in  the  hands  of 
persons  called  specialists  selected  by  competitive  test. 
This  publicity  by  expert  government  actually  stands  in 
the  way  of  public  understanding  and  public  support. 

Reports  Intended  for  Citizen  Information — Not  for 
Other  Experts. — To  this  unexpert  publicity  by  national 
expert  government  a  striking  contrast  is  furnished  in 
the  educational  field  by  Supt.  F.  E.  Spaulding,  formerly 
of  Minneapolis  and  elected  in  191 7  to  the  superintendency 
of  the  Cleveland  schools.  Mr.  Spaulding's  eligibility  to 
the  Minneapolis  and  Cleveland  positions  rests  largely 
upon  his  publicity  work  as  government  expert  at  the  head 
of  Newton,  Massachusetts,  pubHc  schools.  At  a  time 
when  several  other  experts  in  city  school  systems  and  in 
colleges  were  disparaging  the  public's  ability  to  under- 
stand the  public  service  it  paid  for,  Mr.  Spaulding  frank- 
ly took  the  position  that  the  public  was  entitled  to  know 
what  it  was  getting  for  its  money.  He  prepared  detailed 
and  comparative  analyses  of  service  rendered  and  of  cost 
which  elicited  unusual  interest  and  discussion  among  his 
own  taxpayers  and  called  him  dramatically  and  helpfully 
to  the  attention  of  colleagues  throughout  the  country. 

The  superiority  of  the  recent  Minneapolis  reports  is 
fiot  so  much  in  the  fact  that  they  went  to  the  public  in 
small  installments  as  that  they  were  prepared  by  an 
expert  for  the  understanding  of  inexperts.  After  admit- 
ting the  public's  right  to  understand  and  to  be  told  in 
ways  that  would  make  it  easy  to  understand,  this  expert 
scorned  none  of  the  devices  which  the  printing  and 
advertising  worlds  have  employed  to  "put  across,"  "get 
over,"   "sell,"   "land"   their   stories.     Changes   of  type, 


i8o       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

short  paragraphs,  diagrams,  photographs,  indentations, 
and  last,  but  not  least,  attractive  titles  were  employed. 

The  fact  that  two  school  board  members  who  endorsed 
the  building  program  and  other  educational  program  were 
voted  out  by  the  electors,  and  persons  critical  of  the 
program  were  voted  in  does  not  subtract  one  iota  from 
the  merit  of  the  educational  method  employed. 

The  spirit  is  well  stated  in  this  sentence : 

"In  order  that  the  people  may  demand  or  permit  in 
the  light  of  intelligence  not  in  the  darkness  of  ignorance, 
misconception  or  prejudice,  a  series  of  monographs  is 
being  issued  ...  for  the  purpose  of  informing  the  peo- 
ple concerned  of  local  educational  conditions  and  needs." 

How  titles  can  be  made  to  express  sympathy  for  those 
who  pay  the  bills  and  attempt  to  measure  up  to  their 
rights,  is  indicated  by  the  following  among  21  titles: 

A  Million  a  Year — a  five  year  building  program,  etc. 

The  Price  of  Progress — legislative  program,  etc. 

Where  Are  the  Children? — a  continuous  census 

Keeping  the  Children  Well — open  air  rooms,  etc. 

Out  of  the  Beaten  Track — school  publications,  entertain- 
ments, various  activities  not  in  the  regular  curriculum 

Making  Children  Strong 

Children  Who  Are  Different 

The  Critical  Period — the  junior  high  schools 

After  the  Day's  Work — evening  schools 

Possibility  and  Opportunity — vocational  guidance,  place- 
ment and  supervision 

Citizen  Understanding  Essential  to  Continuance  of 
Expert  Government. — Upon  the  character  of  publicity 
by  expert  government  depend  the  continuance  and  exten- 
sion of  that  kind  of  government.  Whether  expert 
government  shall  try  to  do  its  work  in  spite  of  public 


INTERPRETING  EXPERT  GOVERNMENT       i8i 

misunderstanding  and  without  regard  to  public  under- 
standing depends  upon  what  questions  the  public  asks. 
Observation  indicates  that  this  in  turn  depends  upon  the 
public's  organization  for  asking  questions.  Where  civic 
bodies  are  organized  to  support  or  abet  officials,  govern- 
ment experts  on  the  inside  will  be  misled  in  one  city- 
after  another  to  believe  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  the 
public  to  understand.  The  civic  agency  which  cares  more 
for  its  own  interest  or  for  friendly  relations  with  expert 
governors  than  it  does  for  concrete  results  from  such 
government  for  fhe  whole  public  rapidly  becomes  more 
arrogant  than  expert  governors  themselves. 

No  more  hostile  attack  could  be  made  upon  expert 
government  than  the  insidious  urging  by  a  Chamber  of 
Commerce  president  as  in  New  York  that  experts  should 
make  up  their  own  minds  without  holding  public  hear- 
ings. Of  course,  what  the  president  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  meant  was  that  when  a  small  handful  of  men 
within  a  larger  handful  of  men  representing  large  inter- 
ests favor  a  plan  which  a  majority  of  expert  governors 
favor,  the  public  should  be  satified  with  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce's  declaration  of  trust  in  private  conferences 
between  expert  government  and  the  New  York  Central, 
and  between  the  New  York  Central  and  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce.  The  comment  of  Borough  President 
Connolly  of  Queens  laconically  summarizes  the  real 
meaning  of  not  holding  back  public  projects  until  the 
public  knows  what  interests  are  involved:  "They  don't 
have  public  hearings  in  Russia."  ^  * 

^Throughout  this  paper  Dr.  Allen  raises  pertinently  the  ques- 
tions arising  in  connection  with  the  cooperation  of  unofficial 
experts  with  city  government.  Readers  who  care  to  pursue 
this  subject  farther  are  urged  to  read  Edward  A.  Fitzpatrick's 
"Municipal    Research — A    Criticism"    in   the   New   Republic    of 


i82   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

January  2,  1915,  and  Frederick  A.  Cleveland's  reply  under  the 
title  "The  Basis  of  Municipal  Research"  in  the  same  magazine 
of  January  23,  1915.  They  ought  also  to  read  a  discussion  of 
the  same  subject  by  the  same  persons  in  the  April  and  October, 
1916,  numbers  of  the  National  Municipal  Review.  Dr.  Cleve- 
land's views  on  this  subject  are  presented  also  in  a  booklet, 
"Expert  Municipal  Service  with  Citizen  Support,"  issued  by 
the  Philadelphia  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  June  25,  1914, 
in  a  booklet  on  "The  Citizen  and  the  Government,"  recently 
issued  by  the  New  York  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  and  in 
a  pamphlet  called  "Responsible  Government"  published  in  Mu- 
nicipal Research  in  January,    1916. — Editor. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  LOCAL   RESIDENCE   REQUIREMENT   FOR 
PUBLIC  OFFICE* 

THE  local  residence  requirement  for  public  office 
(i)  Tends   to   perpetuate   mediocre   technical   and 
expert  service. 

(2)  Means  the  continuation  of  party  spoils. 

(3)  Makes  impossible  adequate  training  for  all  experts 
and 

(4)  A  national  supply  of  experts,  and 

(5)  Is  therefore  one  of  the  biggest  obstacles  to  the 
American  ideal  of  an  efficient  democracy. 

These  statements  may  seem  overstated,  for  sake  of 
emphasis.  Let  us  examine  them  and  see.  We  will  limit 
our  inquiry  to  the  principal  administrative  experts  who 
set  the  tone  for  the  entire  corps  of  the  city's  employees. 

The  Local  Residence  Requirement  Means  Mediocre 
Technical  and  Expert  Service. — There  is  needed  an 
inspector  of  gas  in  a  large  city  at  a  salary  of  $5,000  per 
year.  The  tide  of  provincialism  in  this  particular  city 
runs  strong.  "Aliens"  are  not  wanted.  Therefore,  by 
law  or  by  decree  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission,  ap- 
plicants for  the  position  are  limited  to  those  who  are 
residents  of  the  city. 

*  Reprinted  from  The  Public  Servant. 

183 


i84       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

The  position  requires  integrity  and  willingness  to  put 
the  public  weal  first.  There  are  ten  applicants,  of 
whom  five  pass  the  examination.  Of  these  five,  two 
have  been  sent  in  by  the  gas  company.  One  is  a  ward 
worker  who  has  crammed  up  for  the  examination,  and 
barely  passes  it,  but  passes  high  on  ''personality  and 
tact,"  which  counted  4  out  of  the  10  points.  A  fourth 
is  a  clerk  in  the  present  bureau,  a  man  who  passed  low 
on  the  "personality  and  tact"  test,  but  who  was  suffi- 
ciently immersed  in  office  procedure  to  pass  his  other 
tests  with  high  percentages.  A  fifth  is  a  graduate  of 
an  engineering  school  in  a  nearby  university,  endowments 
ito  which  are  being  expectantly  awaited.  This  particular 
graduate  the  faculty  had  not  thought  sufficiently  capable 
to  warrant  a  recommendation  for  private  employment. 
Moreover,  his  family  connections  and  his  aspirations  are 
such  as  to  make  him  very  amenable  to  "social  pressure" 
from  the  gas  office. 

One  of  the  five  must  be  chosen.  Which  is  the  best 
choice?     Is  it  not  the  ward  worker? 

A  similar  examination  is  given  in  another  city  for  an 
identical  position.  The  examination  this  time  is  open 
to  all  without  residence  restrictions.  Again  there  are 
five  successful  applicants.  One  is  a  local  politician  who 
in  his  oral  examination  assures  the  examiners  that  he 
can  do  any  "organizing"  work  among  the  voters  the 
city  administration  may  wish  him  to  do.  His  technical 
qualifications  are  just  sufficient  to  let  him  pass.  A 
second  is  a  resident  of  the  city,  and  once  an  instructor 
in  chemistry  in  a  nearby  university.  His  technical 
qualifications  are  high.  He  sends  word  to  the  appointing 
authority  that  councils  are  "with  him."  The  character 
of  the  councils   is  such  as  to  make  it   sure  that  this 


THE  LOCAL  RESIDENCE  REQUIREMENT     185 

means  inimical  pressure  from  the  gas  company.  A 
third  is  a  highly  qualified  non-resident  expert  from  a 
nearby  gas  company,  who  says  in  his  written  examination, 
that  utility  questions  are  to  be  solved  solely  by  confer- 
ence with  the  president  of  the  home  gas  company.  A 
fourth  is  a  resident  graduate  from  a  high-grade  engineer- 
ing school.  The  tests  assure  him  to  be  capable  and 
fearless.  A  fifth  has  served  the  public  most  acceptably 
in  a  similar  position  in  a  larger  city  at  a  salary  of 
$3,500.  He  has  excellent  technical  preparation,  knows 
how  to  deal  with  the  public,  and  his  ideals  as  a  public 
servant  have  been  well  tested. 

Now  which  of  the  five  should  be  appointed?  Is  it 
not  the  experienced  expert  ? 

But,  you  say,  these  are  extreme  cases.  Quite  to  the 
contrary,  they  are  taken  almost  word  for  word  from 
official  records  and  are  typical  of  what  is  going  on  day 
after  day  in  American  municipalities. 

The  number  of  quaHfied  men  free  to  take  such  a 
position  are  sufficiently  limited  in  the  United  States  as 
a  whole.  It  stands  to  reason  that  the  possibilities  of  a 
good  choice  are  all  the  fewer  when  applicants  are  limited 
to  their  home  towns.  The  residence  limitation  assures 
mediocrity  in  public  office;  the  removal  of  the  residence 
limitation  gives  opportunity  for  the  prepared  expert  who 
w^ishes  to  be  a  public  servant. 

The  Continuation  of  Party  Spoils. — The  local  resi- 
dence requirement  means  the  continuation  of  party 
spoils.  Why?  Because  when  the  choice  is  .limited  to 
mediocrity  in  technical  preparation,  the  wisest  choice  is 
the  politician;  for  other  politicians  ''higher  up"  will  then 
be  held  to  account  for  what  this  politician  does.     The 


i86       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

forces  determining  the  responsiveness  of  this  official  tO' 
public  needs  will  be  either  political  contributions  from 
the  gas  company  or  reasonable  standards  of  public  light- 
ing and  qualities  of  gas  acceptable  to  the  voters,  and 
the  latter,  sooner  or  later,  becomes  the  determining 
factor.  Nothing  is  so  hopeless  as  the  city  employee  who 
is  an  "expert"  when  the  city  politicians  want  to  justify 
his  retention,  and  a  "me  too"  when  orders  are  given. 

Local  residence  requirements  mean  the  continuation  of 
party  spoils  because  party  spoils  are  to  be  preferred  to 
the  alternative  of  irresponsible,  ill-prepared  employees. 

The  Local  Residence  Requirement  Means  Inadequate 
Training  for  all  Experts. — If  the  mediocre  is  to  be 
chosen  and  the  party  favorite  selected  from  the  me- 
diocres,  why,  pray,  should  there  be  any  special  training 
for  public  service  ? 

But  even  assuming  that  only  the  best  qualified  are 
appointed,  why  should  any  one  take  the  time  to  train 
for  the  policy-determining  expert  positions  which  set  the 
tone  to  city  administrations  and  the  salaries  for  which 
warrant  preparation?  Why  prepare  for  the  position  of 
assistant  city  solicitor,  or  chief  clerk  in  the  department 
of  public  works,  or  market  clerk,  or  engineer  in  the 
transit  department,  if  you  cannot  look  for  continuous 
employment  in  governmental  service  elsewhere?  The- 
fact  that  governmental  work  cannot  be  a  profession  is 
one  of  the  greatest  possible  handicaps  to  governmental 
efficiency.  Who  will  be  so  shortsighted  as  to  train  him- 
self for  a  given  life  work  when  the  only  position  avail- 
able therein  is  a  certain  expert  position  in  his  home  town  ? 
And  what  university  will  think  of  offering  the  training 
needed  for  special  public  work  under  such  restrictions  ? 

If  we  had  consciously  set  about  to  make  government 


THE  LOCAL  RESIDENCE  REQUIREMENT     187 

inept   and   mediocre  no   surer  means   could  have  been 
chosen  then  to  limit  applicants  to  their  home  towns. 

A  National  Supply  of  Experts  Is  Impossible  Under 
the  Local  Residence  Requirement. — There  are  many 
urgent  reasons  why  there  should  be  no  residence  limi- 
tations upon  engineers,  bureau  chiefs  and  all  those  in 
expert  service.  One  of  these  is  that  the  opposition  to 
"aliens"  is  based  primarily  on  the  knowledge  that  the 
local  expert  is  amenable  to  social  and  economic  pressure 
that  will  tend  to  make  him  "safe  and  sane,"  in  other 
words,  dishonest.  And  if  faith  in  the  expert  is  to  de- 
velop, all  taint  of  dishonesty  or  amenability  to  "pressure" 
must  be  eliminated.  How  many  cases  could  be  cited  of 
virile  and  honest  criticisms  of  public  utilities,  say,  coming 
from  the  highly  qualified  within  a  city?  The  number  is 
few  indeed.  Moreover,  the  honesty,  efficiency  and 
competent  standards  of  experts  will  best  be  furthered 
by  the  creation  of  a  national  supply  of  such  experts  to 
the  end  that  evidence  of  "taint"  will  reflect  on  the 
expert's  standing  among  his  associates.  This  is  a  factor 
of  no  small  importance  in  developing  a  class  of  experts 
in  whom  the  public  can  have  a  righteous  faith.  If  the 
sciences  involved  are  to  be  developed,  opportunities  must 
be  nation-wide. 

An  Obstacle  to  Efficient  Democracy. — And  if  these 
objections  to  the  local  residence  requirement  are  true, 
or  even  approximately  true,  the  ideal  of  efficient  democ- 
racy remains  an  idle  dream. 

The  essentials  to  competency  in  governmental  work 
are  four:  (i)  scientific  selection  of  the  worker;  (2) 
training  of  the  worker  for  his  job;  (3)  the  inculcation 
of  the  ethical  standards  requisite  for  public  office;  (4) 


i88       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

the  continuance  in  office  of  the  highly  trained  in  order 
to  avoid  the  expense,  delay  and  waste  due  to  frequent 
training  of  experts. 

Every  one  of  these  essentials  is  impossible  under  local 
residence  requirements. 

How  It  Is  Done  in  Germany. — In  making  appoint- 
ments the  magistracy  of  the  German  city  is  left  with  a 
wide  latitude  of  choice  with  no  restrictions  as  to  local 
residence.  The  only  restrictions  are  those  imposed  by 
the  national  laws  requiring  technical  qualifications  for 
given  positions. 

The  usual  course  in  case  of  vacancies  is  for  the  admin- 
istrative board  to  advertise  the  fact  that  applications  for 
appointment  to  a  stated  office  will  be  received  and 
considered.  The  advertisement  usually  states  the  amount 
of  salary  offered;  the  provisions  in  regard  to  pension, 
the  duties  to  be  performed  and  the  qualifications  expected. 
These  qualifications  never  include  local  residence.  Ad- 
vertisements are  made  for  all  the  leading  positions, 
including  the  Burgomeister.  A  typical  advertisement 
runs  as  follows: 

"NOTICE 

"The  post  of  Syndikus  in  the  Magistrat  of  this  city  has 
become  vacant.  The  stipend  is  6000  marks  per  year  with 
an  increase  of  600  marks  every  three  years  until  the  maxi- 
mum of  9000  marks  is  reached.  The  appointment  is  for  life; 
and  provision  is  made  for  a  pension  on  retirement  after 
long  service,  as  well  as  for  the  granting  of  an  annuity  to 
the  widow  or  orphans  of  a  deceased  incumbent  of  the  post. 
The  Syndikus  is  expected  to  preside  in  the  Industrial  and 
Mercantile  Court  (Gewerbe-  und  Kaufmannsgericht)  and  is 
intrusted  with  a  general  supervision  over  the  legal  affairs  of 
the  city.     Candidates  who  have  passed  their   second  legal 


THE  LOCAL  RESIDENCE  REQUIREMENT     189 

examination  and  who  have  had  successful  administrative  ex- 
perience are  requested  to  submit  applications  accompanied 
by  testimonials  and  other  suitable  documents  to  the  city  clerk 
before  August  20. 

^Trankfort-on-the-Main,  THE  MAGISTRAT. 

"July  17,   1916." 

How  It  Is  Done  in  England. — In  England  where 
the  qualifications  demanded  are  equally  high,  the  council 
usually  authorizes  the  tovi^n  clerk  to  announce,  either 
through  the  local  newspaper  or  otherwise,  that  appHca- 
tions  for  appointment  to  a  stated  position  will  be 
entertained.  All  positions  are  open  to  the  competent 
regardless  of  residence.  Not  only  is  there  no  local 
residence  requirement  but  the  city  council  advertises 
for  applicants  and  invites  the  competent  everywhere  to 
try  for  the  position.  Thus  in  twelve  issues  of  the 
Municipal  Journal,  the  leading  municipal  paper  in 
England,  there  were  485  advertisements  for  positions  to 
be  filled.  A  typical  advertisement,  taken  from  the  Mu- 
nicipal Journal,  is  as  follows : 

"The  Council  invite  applications  for  the  office  of  MED- 
ICAL OFFICER  OF  HEALTH,  and  SCHOOL  MEDICAL 
OFFICER,  for  the  Urban  District  of  Tottenham,  from 
legally  qualified  and  registered  Medical  Practitioners  as  re- 
quired by  the  Local  Government  Act,  1888. 

"Salary  £600  per  annum,  apportioned  as  follows: 

As  Medical  Officer  of  Health  and  School 
Medical  Officer,  supervising  arrangements 
for  the  Medical  Inspection  of  School  chil- 
dren         £500 

As  School  Medical  Officer,  actually  inspect- 
ing scholars    £100 

£600 


I90       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Does  any  one  believe  for  a  moment  that  there  is  not 
a  close  relation  between  the  efficient  government  of 
German  cities  and  the  careful  government  of  English 
cities  and  the  nation-wide  appeal  for  applicants  regardless 
of  local  residence  requirements? 

The  "Is"  and  "Ought"  in  America. — Even  assuming 
that  the  relation  of  the  local  residence  requirement  to 
mediocre  service  in  a  spoils  system  is  not  so  immediate  or 
direct  as  here  outlined,  is  not  the  relation  so  evident  as 
to  justify  its  abolition?  For  who  profits  by  its  main- 
tenance ?  Certainly  not  the  citizen  who  wants  loo  cents 
in  service  for  every  dollar  in  taxes.  Certainly  not  the 
public  official  who  wants  a  high  grade  administration. 
Certainly  not  the  employee  who  wants  to  make  a  profes- 
sion of  his  life  work.  Those  only  profit  who  want  the 
spoils  and  whose  "interests"  require  a  "control"  over  the 
expert  in  office. 

For  the  abolition  of  the  local  residence  requirement 
does  not  mean  that  all  or  even  a  great  portion  of  the 
city's  policy-determining  expert  positions  go  to  those  not 
residents  of  the  city.  It  only  means  that  the  best  avail- 
able talent  will  be  secured  for  a  given  position.  If  the 
position  is  such  as  to  require  a  knowledge  of  local 
conditions  this  knowledge  can  be  tested  in  the  examina- 
tion. But  why  deprive  a  city  of  the  best  available  talent, 
why  deprive  the  nation  of  a  silpply  of  experts,  why 
deprive  the  employee  of  the  desire  to  grow  into  larger 
positions  when  there  is  no  necessary  relation  between 
residence  and  the  service  wanted  ? 

The  abolition  of  the  local  residence  requirement  means 
to  move  from  provincialism  into  worthy  public  service. 


CHAPTER  XII 

RECENT  IMPROVEMENTS  IN  METHODS  OF 
RECRUITING  THE  PUBLIC  SERVICE 

ONE  of  our  ex-presidents  recently  made  the  observa- 
tion that  "if  we  selected  employees  according  to  the 
length  of  their  noses,  it  would  be  better  than  the  political 
spoils  system  of  appointment." 

This  statement  not  only  contains  a  considerable  element 
of  truth,  but  suggests  the  original  theory  of  civil  service 
reform  in  this  country.  The  open  competitive  exami- 
nation, while  not  so  crude  as  the  device  of  measuring 
noses,  was  intended  at  first  to  serve  much  the  same 
purpose,  namely,  to  substitute  a  non-political  method  of 
appointment  for  the  political  one  that  had  proved  so 
disastrous  in  former  years.  There  was,  to  be  sure,  even 
in  the  early  days  of  the  merit  system,  an  appreciation 
of  the  more  positive  value  inherent  in  the  so-called  civil 
service  examination,  but  the  thought  uppermost  in  the 
minds  of  reformers  at  that  time  was  to  exclude  the 
spoilsman  from  public  office. 

New  Demands  on  the  Public  Service.— ^In  recent 
years,  however,  as  a  result  of  the  rapid  expansion  of 
public  functions,  new  demands  have  been  made  upon  the 
recruiting  agencies  of  government.  They  have  been 
called   upon  to   furnish  in  some   way  not  only  office 

191 


192       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

clerks  of  the  lower  grades,  but  the  trained  personnel  for 
conducting  the  increasingly  technical  and  intricate  activ- 
ities of  city,  state  and  nation.  As  the  business  of 
government  has  become  a  more  serious  undertaking,  those 
responsible  for  administrative  results  have  grown  more 
exacting  in  their  requirements  and  have  come  to  demand 
positive  proficiency  in  employees  as  well  as  negative 
innocence  of  political  intrigue  in  securing  appointment. 

These  new  demands  have  compelled  the  recruiting 
agencies  of  our  cities  to  concentrate  attention  upon  ways 
and  means  of  adapting  the  examination  method  of  selec- 
tion to  the  changed  conditions  of  employment.  The  old 
scholastic  tests,  which  were  copied  from  Great  Britain 
and  served  their  original  purpose  fairly  well,  had  to  be 
modified  and  made  more  practical.  New  methods  of 
ascertaining  personal  fitness  had  to  be  evolved  and  the 
whole  process  of  selection  had  to  be  refined  and  per- 
fected. What  follows  is  devoted  to  a  brief  exposition 
of  the  more  notable  recent  improvements  in  the  methods 
of  selection  for  public  employment. 

The  Practical  Test. — One  of  these  notable  improve- 
ments is  the  introduction  of  the  "practical  test."  This 
innovation,  while  not  wholly  recent  in  character,  has  come 
into  general  use  only  during  the  last  ten  years.  It  con- 
sists in  having  applicants  give  an  actual  demonstration 
of  their  skill  in  the  kind  of  work  for  which  they  are 
candidates  and  then  rating  them  on  their  individual 
performances.  The  underlying  idea  of  the  practical  test 
is  that  a  person's  ability  can  be  judged  better  from  his 
work  than  from  what  he  may  write  on  paper  in  answer  to 
formal  questions. 

During  the  last  few  years  the  practical  test  has  been 
used  quite  generally  in  the  selection  of  skilled  manual 


RECRUITING  PUBLIC  SERVICE  193 

workers,  such  as  painters,  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  plumb- 
ers and  machinists.  As  a  rule,  applicants  are  asked  to 
perform  some  definite  task  that  brings  into  play  a 
number  of  important  principles  of  their  particular  trades. 
In  an  examination  of  carpenters,  for  example,  the  Phila- 
delphia Civil  Service  Commission  under  Mayor  Beau- 
kenling  required  each  candidate  to  make  a  mortise  and 
tenon  joint  and  to  show  by  sketch  and  table  the  parts 
of  a  given  panel  piece.  The  examiners  in  charge  of 
tests  of  this  character  are  usually  themselves  skilled  in 
the  trade  involved  and  can  tell  almost  at  a  glance  from 
the  way  an  applicant  goes  about  his  work  whether  he  is 
experienced  in  it  or  not. 

This  idea  is  being  applied  also  to  other  than  skilled 
labor  employments.  The  Municipal  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission of  New  York  City  has  recently  made  the  practical 
test  a  part  of  its  scheme  of  selection  for  the  positions  of 
inspector  of  blasting,  inspector  of  weights  and  measures, 
inspector  of  fire  alarm  boxes,  swimming  instructor, 
playground  attendant,  and  psychologist.  In  Philadelphia, 
where  the  whole  merit  system  was  greatly  strengthened 
under  the  Blankenberg  administration,  a  similar  exten- 
sion of  the  practical  test  to  a  wide  variety  of  employments 
took  place.  Among  the  more  unusual  positions  for 
which  applicants  were  required  to  demonstrate  their 
qualifications  in  a  practical  way  are  those  of  bacteriologist, 
assistant  dentist,  assistant  milk  inspector,  interne,  hydro- 
grapher,  draftsman  and  checker.  Other  cities  through- 
out the  country  are  making  similar  progress  in  the  direc- 
tion of  practical  tests. 

There  are,  of  course,  very  definite  limitations  on  the 
possible  scope  of  application  of  this  idea.  So  long  as 
the  character  of  the  employment  is  mechanical,  or  involves 
dexterity   of   hand   or   limb,   or   requires   observational 


194       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

powers  and  understanding  of  materials,  an  actual  demon- 
stration of  skill  and  ability  is  helpful  in  showing  fitness  for 
the  job;  but  the  moment  duties  become  purely  admini- 
strative or  purely  intellectual  in  character,  the  practical 
test  ceases  to  be  of  value  and  other  means  of  selection 
must  be  employed  instead. 

Systematic  Investigation  of  Experience  and  Char- 
acter.— Another  recent  advance  in  examining  methods 
is  the  closer  and  more  systematic  investigation  of  the 
experience  and  character  of  applicants  for  public  po- 
sitions. In  the  earlier  days  of  the  reform  movement,  civil 
service  commissioners  gave  some  attention  to  this  phase 
of  their  work,  but  the  methods  used  were  decidedly  lax 
and  ineffective.  The  usual  practice  was  to  send  formal 
circular  inquiries  to  previous  employers  and  to  persons 
given  by  the  applicant  as  references,  and  if  the  replies 
did  not  reveal  any  gross  misrepresentation  of  facts  on 
the  part  of  the  applicant  and  did  not  otherwise  prove 
him  to  be  a  scoundrel,  nothing  further  was  done  to  safe- 
guard the  service. 

Of  late  years,  however,  the  more  progressive  civil 
service  commissions  have  done  away  with  these  lax 
methods  and  have  made  experience  and  character  investi- 
gation a  real  and  effective  part  of  the  civil  service 
examination.  The  New  York  City  Commission  now  has 
a  special  bureau  of  character  investigation,  and  the 
Philadelphia  commission  has  the  nucleus  of  a  similar 
organization  unit.  These  investigating  bodies  make  a 
thorough  inquiry  regarding  the  age,  marital  condition, 
residence,  previous  employments,  education,  and  possible 
arrests  or  summonses  to  court  of  persons  who  have 
passed  the  mental  and  physical  examinations.  In  making 
this    inquiry,    the    investigators    begin    with    a    careful 


RECRUITING  PUBLIC  SERVICE  195 

scrutiny  and  comparison  of  the  statements  contained  in 
the  original  application  form,  the  training  and  experience 
paper  written  in  the  course  of  the  mental  examination, 
and  a  special  "character  sheet"  which  is  filled  out  by 
the  applicant  subsequent  to  the  mental  examination.  This 
part  of  the  inquiry  is  supplemented  by  communicating 
with  previous  employers  and  other  persons  who  know 
something  about  the  applicant's  record  and  character. 
Whenever  is  seems  necessary,  a  visit  is  made  to  these 
persons  and  the  facts  are  obtained  by  first  hand  inves- 
tigation. Such  items  as  age,  arrests  and  summonses  to 
court  are  usually  verified  from  public  records.  If,  after 
a  full  inquiry  of  this  kind,  it  appears  that  the  applicant 
has  made  false  statements  of  an  important  nature  to 
secure  employment,  or  has  serious  blots  in  his  career, 
he  is  required  to  report  personally  to  the  commission  and 
to  explain  such  matters  as  are  in  question.  In  case  the 
offense  is  grave  and  the  explanation  unsatisfactory,  the 
applicant's  name  is  dropped  from  the  list  of  eligibles 
and  may  not  be  considered  further  for  employment. 

The  practice  of  examining  closely  into  an  applicant's 
experience  and  character  was  applied  first  to  the  police 
and  fire  services,  but  it  is  now  being  extended  to 
practically  all  other  classes  of  municipal  employees.  In 
the  course  of  time,  no  doubt,  every  important  public 
employment  agency  in  the  country  will  make  similar 
efforts  to  protect  the  public  service  from  the  morally 
unfit  as  well  as  from  the  mentally  and  physically  un- 
qualified. 

Special  Oral  Examining  Boards. — A  third  step  for- 
ward in  recruiting  methods  is  the  recently  adopted  prac- 
tice of  having  applicants  interviewed  by  special  oral 
examining  boards.     This  may  be  regarded  as  a  develop- 


196   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

ment  of  the  ordinary  oral  test  which  has  been  one  of 
the  instruments  of  selection  ever  since  the  introduction 
of  the  merit  system  in  this  country  and  is  still  used 
quite  generally  for  lower  grade  positions.  The  difference 
between  the  ordinary  oral  test  and  the  more  recent 
development  lies  chiefly  in  the  fact  that  the  former  is 
designed  merely  to  gauge  the  more  obvious  traits  of 
personality  of  the  applicant,  whereas  the  latter  aims  to 
bring  out  also  his  general  grasp  of  technical  and  admini- 
strative problems,  his  resourcefulness  and  executive  quali- 
fications, and  his  ethical  standards. 

These  interviews  are  usually  conducted  by  men  of 
high  standing  in  the  professions  or  vocations  from  which 
eligibles  are  to  be  drawn.  For  example,  if  an  engineer 
of  wide  experience  is  wanted,  a  number  of  eminent 
engineers  in  the  community  are  asked  to  serve  as  inter- 
viewers ;  if  the  post  to  be  filled  requires  a  high  order  of 
medical  knowledge,  the  interviewers  chosen  are  them- 
selves physicians  of  experience  and  reputation.  Very 
often  these  special  boards  have  charge  of  the  entire 
examination,  and  the  oral  interview  is  only  one  of  a 
number  of  equally  important  functions  entrusted  to 
them;  but  at  this  point  it  is  their  use  in  connection  with 
the  oral  interview  that  is  being  emphasized. 

In  the  oral  interview,  an  applicant  meets  his  examiners 
just  as  one  professional  man  would  meet  another,  on 
terms  of  equality,  and  the  discussion  that  follows  is  on 
important  topics  relating  to  the  work  for  which  the 
candidate  applies.  These  discussions  may  last  for  almost 
an  hour,  during  which  time  each  member  of  the  oral 
examining  board  has  a  good  opportunity  to  form  an 
estimate  of  the  applicant's  general  qualifications.  This 
estimate  is  represented  by  a  percentage  mark  and  is  taken 
into  account  in  arriving  at  the  final  rating  of  the  ap- 


RECRUITING  PUBLIC  SERVICE  197 

plicant.  The  weight  given  to  the  oral  interview,  of 
course,  varies  for  different  positions  and  under  different 
examining  boards,  but  as  a  rule  it  is  not  less  than  thirty 
percent  of  all  the  weights  in  the  examination  and  may 
be  as  high  as  forty  percent.  When  we  bear  in  mind 
that  a  rating  of  seventy  percent  is  usually  necessary  to 
pass  in  a  civil  service  examination,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
oral  interview  plays  an  important  part  in  the  process 
of  selection. 

This  innovation  on  the  old  time  examining  methods  is 
used,  of  course,  for  the  higher  grade  employments  only. 
In  fact,  it  is  one  of  the  recent  developments  that  has  made 
possible  the  filling  of  high  salaried  and  expert  positions 
by  competitive  methods.  In  Philadelphia  and  New  York 
City  the  oral  interview  has  been  employed  successfully 
for  posts  ranging  as  high  as  $6000  in  annual  compensa- 
tion, and  there  seems  to  be  no  good  reason  why  it  could 
not  be  used  with  equal  success  for  any  responsible 
position. 

The  Unassembled  Examination. — A  fourth  recent 
improvement  in  methods  of  selection  is  the  unassembled 
examination.  As  the  term  itself  suggests,  in  an  examina- 
tion of  this  kind,  the  competitors  need  not  come  together 
in  one  room  and  write  their  papers  under  the  immediate 
supervision  of  the  civil  service  authorities.  Such  state- 
ments and  discussions  as  are  called  for  in  the  test  may 
be  prepared  at  home  and  sent  to  the  offices  of  the  civil 
service  commission  by  mail.  Applicants  may  live  in 
entirely  different  parts  of  the  country  and  yet  compete 
for  the  same  position  without  the  expense  and  incon- 
venience of  traveling  to  a  common  point,  except  possibly 
for  the  oral  interview  for  which  only  those  who  emerge 
successfully  from  the  written  examination  are  eligible. 


198       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

It  is  only  during  the  last  five  years  that  this  type  of 
examination  has  been  used  to  any  appreciable  extent. 

The  usual  procedure  in  holding  an  unassembled  ex- 
amination is  as  follows:  First  of  all,  the  examination 
is  given  wide  publicity  in  order  to  enHst  the  interest  of 
a  large  number  of  qualified  persons.  Sometimes  it  is 
advertised  from  coast  to  coast.  The  advertisement  gives 
a  concise  statement  of  the  duties  and  compensation  of 
the  position  to  be  filled  and  the  requirements  to  be  met 
by  applicants,  as  well  as  directions  for  entering 
the  competition.  Upon  receipt  of  formal  applica- 
tions, the  civil  service  commission  asks  each  appli- 
cant to  submit  a  statement  setting  forth  in  detail 
the  facts  regarding  his  education,  experience,  achieve- 
ments, books  or  articles  published,  and  such  other  matters 
as  may  help  to  throw  light  on  his  past  career.  He  is 
also  asked  to  prepare  a  discussion,  or  thesis,  on  some 
important  problem  of  administration  or  professional 
practice.  In  preparing  this  discussion  he  is  free  to 
consult  any  authorities  he  pleases,  but  when  he  submits 
his  paper  he  must  certify  that  it  is  his  own  work.  After 
the  experience,  statements  and  discussions  have  been  filed 
with  the  commission,  they  are  carefully  examined,  usually 
by  a  special  examining  board  of  experts,  and  rated.  Then 
all  applicants  with  a  standing  of  at  least  seventy  percent 
in  these  two  parts  of  the  test  are  summoned  for  the 
oral  interview,  the  character  of  which  has  already  been 
described.  In  order  to  determine  the  final  grade  of 
each  applicant  the  ratings  in  all  parts  of  the  examination, 
including  the  oral  interview,  are  averaged. 

The  unassembled  examination  has  at  least  two  great 
advantages  over  the  ordinary  assembled  type  of  civil 
service  test.  In  the  first  place,  it  widens  the  field  upon 
which  a  governmental  agency  may  draw  for  high  grade 


RECRUITING  PUBLIC  SERVICE  199 

men.  This  is  also  an  advantage  to  persons  who  are  seek- 
ing to  make  public  service  a  career,  for  it  opens  avenues 
to  more  responsible  positions  which  would  otherwise  re- 
main closed.  In  the  second  place,  it  overcomes  the 
reluctance  of  most  men  who  already  have  made  their 
mark  in  the  world  to  submit  to  the  less  dignified  ordeal 
of  an  assembled  test.  Experience  has  shown  that  the 
most  prominent  of  professional  and  business  men  are  not 
averse  to  entering  competition  for  public  office  when  it 
is  conducted  along  unassembled  lines. ' 

Because  of  these  advantages,  this  type  of  examination 
has  enabled  civil  service  commissions  to  fill  the  very 
highest  grade  of  technical  and  expert  positions  in  the 
service.  Philadelphia,  Chicago  and  New  York  City  have 
demonstrated  the  practicability  of  the  unassembled 
method  in  selecting  competent  technicians  and  admini- 
strators for  the  most  responsible  and  highest  salaried 
positions  of  a  non-policy  determining  character.  It  is 
safe  to  say  that  this  type  of  examination  holds  forth  the 
greatest  hope  of  the  upward  extension  of  the  merit 
system,  a  vital  need  to  more  efficient  government  in 
America. 

Standardization  of  Public  Employment. — Finally, 
there  is  the  movement  toward  standardization  of  employ- 
ments which  is  helping  to  perfect  the  methods  of  selection 
for  public  service.  The  peculiar  contribution  of  this 
movement  is  not  so  much  a  new  device  for  testing  the 
fitness  of  applicants,  as  it  is  a  more  intelligent  and 
more  equitable  application  of  devices  already  in  use. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  problem  of  recruiting  the  service 
is  seriously  affected  by  such  conditions  as  lack  of 
adjustment  between  duties  and  compensation,  lack  of 
uniformity  in  titles  and  entrance  requirements  for  posi- 


200       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

tions  having  similar  duties,  and  lack  of  definitely 
established  lines  of  promotion,  with  entrance  require- 
ments for  employments  in  the  lower  grades  leading 
naturally  to  the  requirements  for  employments  in  the 
grades  higher  up.  These  conditions,  however,  obtain  in 
varying  degrees  in  nearly  all  branches  of  the  public 
service. 

Since  the  standardization  movement  aims,  among  other 
things,  to  correct  these  chaotic  conditions,  it  is  helping  to 
smooth  the  way  for  the  recruiting  work  of  civil  service 
commissions.  In  a  properly  standardized  service  every 
position  involving  a  certain  character  and  grade  of  duties 
bears  the  same  title,  has  the  same  entrance  requirements, 
carries  the  same  range  of  compensation  and  opens  the 
same  opportunities  for  promotion  as  every  other  position 
involving  these  duties.  This  gives  examining  boards  a 
definite  basis  upon  which  to  proceed  in  formulating  their 
tests  and  also  makes  it  possible  for  new  employees  who 
have  met  the  same  requirements  to  begin  their  services 
for  the  government  under  similar  conditions  of  employ- 
ment. 

The  standardization  movement  began  about  six  years 
ago  in  Chicago  and  since  that  time  has  spread  to  numer- 
ous other  governmental  units,  among  them  Seattle,  Port- 
land, Oregon,  Los  Angeles  County  and  the  City  of 
Oakland,  California,  Houston,  Texas,  St.  Paul,  Milwau- 
kee, Cook  County,  Illinois,  Pittsburgh,  Philadelphia,  New 
York  City  and  the  states  of  Wisconsin,  Ohio,  New  York 
and  New  Jersey,  all  of  which  either  have  already 
standardized  their  services  or  are  now  in  the  process  of 
doing  so.  If  we  may  judge  from  the  general  interest 
shown  in  the  subject  of  standardization,  many  other  cities 
and  states  will  take  similar  steps  in  the  near  future. 

Other  improvements  in  examining  methods  might  be 


RECRUITING  PUBLIC  SERVICE  201 

recited,  such  as  the  development  of  standards  for  rating 
experience,  the  more  general  use  of  physical  examina- 
tions, and  the  closer  adaptation  of  tests  to  actual  work 
requirements,  but  an  elaboration  of  these  cannot  be 
attempted  within  the  limited  scope  of  this  chapter.  All 
of  them,  however,  form  a  part  of  the  general  advance 
in  the  science  of  selection  which  has  taken  place  during 
the  last  two  decades. 

A  Contrast,  by  Way  of  Summary. — It  would  be  mis- 
leading, of  course,  to  create  the  impression  that  every 
city  in  the  country  where  the  merit  system  has  gained 
a  foothold  is  being  served  by  the  most  up-to-date  recruit- 
ing methods,  for  such  is  not  the  case.  Many  cities,  in 
fact,  have  civil  service  in  name  only,  or  still  have  it 
administered  according  to  the  ideas  of  1883.  Lack  of 
popular  appreciation  of  the  merit  system  has  left  many 
civil  service  commissions  with  insufficient  funds  to  ful- 
fill their  functions  in  an  efficient  manner.  This  is  true 
even  in  some  of  our  larger  cities  which  on  the  whole 
have  given  more  generous  financial  support  to  their  civil 
service  commissions  than  cities  of  smaller  size.  The  last 
stand  of  the  spoilsman  is  usually  an  effort  to  starve  into 
helpless  inactivity  the  official  body  by  which  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  merit  system  are  to  be  enforced. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  more  fortunate  and  more  pro- 
gressive commissions  have  demonstrated  what  can  be 
done  under  proper  conditions,  and  what  these  commis- 
sions have  done  others  will  do  in  the  course  of  time.  The 
old  idea  that  civil  service  is  an  impracticable  dream  and 
incapable  of  meeting  the  needs  of  a  business-like  govern- 
ment has  been  adequately  refuted  by  the  successes  of 
these  commissions  in  filling  every  variety  of  position  by 
competitive  methods.     This  has  been  made  possible  very 


202       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

largely  by  such  improvements  in  the  methods  of  selection 
as  the  practical  test,  the  more  systematic  investigation  of 
experience  and  character,  the  oral  interview  before  expert 
examining  boards,  the  unassembled  examination  and 
other  advances  that  have  taken  place  in  recent  years. 
What  makes  the  whole  outlook  still  more  hopeful  is  the 
fact  that  the  work  of  perfecting  the  merit  system  has 
only  been  begun  and  that  progress  in  the  next  ten  years 
may  be  even  more  remarkable  than  it  has  been  in  the 
years  just  passed. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
MAKING  THE  PUBLIC  SERVICE  ATTRACTIVE 

NOT  long  ago  there  appeared  in  one  of  our  popular 
magazines  an  article  entitled  "38,571  Jobs  with  a 
Poor  Future."  The  jobs  referred  to  were  those  in  the 
classified  civil  service  of  the  federal  government  at 
Washington.  As  the  title  itself  suggests,  the  article  gave 
a  gloomy  picture  of  general  conditions  of  employment 
in  the  federal  civil  service  and  particularly  of  the  poor 
hopes  for  the  future  that  are  held  out  to  the  average 
government  employee.  The  writer's  purpose,  it  would 
seem,  was  to  dissuade  young  people  from  entering  the 
public  service.  ^ 

Tv70  Fundamental  Considerations. — Whether  or  not 
this  article  gives  us  a  true  portrayal  of  actual  conditions, 
it  helps  to  remind  us  of  two  important  considerations 
in  our  endeavor  to  improve  the  personnel  and  the  effi- 
ciency of  American  government.  One  of  these  consider- 
ations is  that,  if  the  right  kind  of  men  and  women  do 
not  seek  public  employment,  no  scheme  of  selection,  how- 
ever perfect,  can  bring  them  into  the  public  service. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  has  been  one  of  the  difficulties 
experienced  by  civil  service  commissions  in  the  past,  es- 
pecially in  communities  where  political  influences  still 
played  an  important  part  in  appointments,  promotions 
and  removals.     A  civil  service  examination  could  not  be 

203 


204       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

made  to  produce  a  list  of  first  rate  cligibles  out  of  an- 
aggregation  of  second  and  third  rate  applicants. 

The  other  consideration  is  that  all  efforts  to  induce 
the  best  type  of  men  and  women  to  make  public  service 
a  career  will  always  prove  more  or  less  futile  unless 
conditions  of  employment  in  our  federal,  state  and  local 
governments  are  rendered  at  least  as  attractive  as  they 
are  in  other  fields  of  endeavor.  Even  granting  for  a 
moment  that  by  merely  appealing  to  the  idealism  of  our 
citizenry  we  can  enlist  the  services  of  many  of  the  best 
trained  and  the  most  public-spirited  of  our  young  people, 
it  seems  hardly  fair  to  expect  these  people  to  serve 
without  some  of  the  usual  rewards  that  come  to  men 
in  other  walks  of  life.  It  is  not  here  assumed  that  condi- 
tions in  private  employment  are  perfect  and  should  be 
held  up  as  a  model  for  our  governments;  for  it  is  all 
too  obvious  that  there  are  features  of  private  employment 
that  are  decidedly  undemocratic  and  anti-social,  and 
ought  to  be  avoided.  Our  contention  is  rather  that  gov- 
ernment ought  not  only  to  be  an  instrument  of  social 
good  to  those  whom  it  serves,  but  that  it  should  deal  in 
the  light  of  the  highest  ideals  of  democracy  and  equity 
with  those  whom  it  employs.  Until  government  suc- 
ceeds in  doing  this,  we  shall  have  difficulty  in  getting 
the  best  talent  into  our  public  service,  and  until  then  we 
really  have  no  right  to  expect  the  best  talent. 

In  view  of  these  considerations,  it  is  fitting  to  inquire 
into  conditions  of  employment  as  they  obtain  at  the 
present  time  in  American  cities  and  to  trace  briefly  the 
various  movements  and  tendencies  to  better  these  con- 
ditions and  to  make  public  service  more  attractive. 

Greater  Security  of  Tenure. — Perhaps  one  of  the 
first  questions  still  asked  by  every  prospective  civil  servant 


MAKING  PUBLIC  SERVICE  ATTRACTIVE    205 

is,  "How  much  security  in  tenure  shall  I  have  if  I  accept 
a  government  job?"  No  person  who  is  economically 
dependent  cares  to  entrust  his  lot  and  that  of  his  family 
to  an  unstable  occupation.  He  can  afford  neither  the 
risk  of  a  period  of  unemployment  nor  the  waste  of 
experience  involved  in  changing  from  one  line  of  work 
to  another  when  his  employment  is  arbitrarily  terminated. 
What,  then,  is  the  present  status  of  tenure  of  office  dur- 
ing efficient  sefvice  in  American  cities? 

It  is  necessary  in  discussing  this  topic  to  distinguish 
between  cities  that  have  civil  service  provisions  and 
cities  that  do  not.  There  are  now  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  cities  in  the  United  States  in  which  the  merit 
system  has  been  estabHshed.  These  are  scattered 
throughout  twenty-eight  states  and  range  in  population 
all  the  way  from  less  than  five  thousand  to  upwards  of 
four  million  inhabitants.  One  hundred  and  one  of  these 
cities  have  a  population  of  thirty  thousand  or  over,  and 
thirty-seven  a  population  of  one  hundred  thousand  or 
over.  With  the  exception  of  Baltimore,  all  of  the  ten 
largest  cities  in  the  United  States  now  operate  under 
civil  service  rules.  This,  however,  leaves  the  vast  ma- 
jority of  cities  and  towns  still  outside  the  pale  of  the 
merit  system. 

Very  little  can  be  said  on  the  favorable  side  of  the 
question  of  tenure  of  office  in  those  cities  which  as  yet 
do  not  have  civil  service  provisions  in  force.  While  it 
is  true  that  quite  frequently  we  find  public  servants 
who  have  been  left  undisturbed  for  many  years  under  a 
spoils  regime,  yet  these  instances  are  the  exceptions 
rather  than  the  rule.  Tenure  of  office  is  always  uncertain 
where  public  jobs  are  regarded  as  political  plums  to  be 
distributed  to  the  faithful  followers  of  the  victorious 
political  party. 


206       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

In  cities  that  have  adopted  the  merit  system,  there  is 
more  security  of  tenure.  The  mere  fact  that  under 
civil  service  rules  a  vacancy  must  be  filled  from  a  list 
of  eligibles,  and  not  by  the  appointment  of  a  personal 
or  political  favorite,  of  itself  removes  one  of  the  strong 
incentives  to  create  a  vacancy.  Moreover,  a  person  who 
is  known  to  hold  his  position  as  the  result  of  a  merit 
test  is  less  likely  to  incur  the  ire  of  party  leaders  than 
one  who  owes  his  appointment  to  the  opposition's  poli- 
tical favor.  In  addition  to  these  two  deterrents,  many 
civil  service  laws  require  the  official  who  makes  the  re- 
moval to  submit  his  reasons  in  writing  to  the  civil 
service  commission,  and  the  accused  employee  is  given 
a  certain  number  of  days  in  which  to  file  a  reply.  The 
reasons  given  by  the  removing  official  must  be  neither 
religious  nor  political.  Unfortunately  this  provision  in 
civil  service  laws  is  usually  carried  out  in  a  most  per- 
functory manner  and  hence  fails  to  accomplish  all  that 
might  reasonably  be  expected  of  it. 

Perhaps  the  most  effectual  method  of  protecting  em- 
ployees from  unjust  removal  is  the  so-called  trial  board 
method.  Where  this  is  in  vogue  an  accused  employee 
may  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  head  of  his  depart- 
ment to  the  civil  service  commission  which  has  power 
to  investigate  the  charges  itself  or  to  designate  a  special 
trial  board  to  act  in  its  stead.  If,  in  this  investigation, 
the  charges  are  not  sustained  by  the  evidence  presented, 
the  civil  service  commission  may  order  the  reinstatement 
of  the  accused  person,  and  the  department  head  con- 
cerned is  obliged  to  carry  out  the  order.  Almost  in- 
variably the  decision  of  the  civil  service  commission  is 
final  and  no  appeal  to  the  courts  is  possible,  except  on 
the  question  of  the  legality  of  the  procedure  followed. 

This  method,  with  slight  modifications,  has  been  in- 


MAKING  PUBLIC  SERVICE  ATTRACTIVE    207 

corporated  in  a  considerable  number  of  civil  service  acts, 
the  most  conspicuous  of  which  are  probably  those  apply- 
ing to  cities  in  Illinois  where  the  power  of  removal  re- 
sides almost  entirely  in  the  civil  service  commission. 
Other  cities  where  removals  are  subject  to  review  by  the 
civil  service  commission  are  Seattle,  Spokane,  Portland, 
Oregon,  San  Francisco,  Oakland,  Los  Angeles,  New 
Orleans,  and  all  of  the  cities  in  Ohio  that  come  under  the 
operation  of  the  Ohio  civil  service  law.  In  a  number  of 
cities  policemen  and  firemen  are  accorded  the  protection 
of  a  trial  before  a  trial  board,  although  other  groups  of 
employees  receive  no  such  protection.  In  commission 
governed  cities  an  accused  employee  sometimes  has  a 
right  to  appeal  from  his  department  head  to  the  com- 
mission itself,  which  may  overrule  the  charges  and 
order  the  employee's  reinstatement. 

There  are  those  who  object  to  the  trial  board  method 
on  the  ground  that  it  tends  to  undermine  discipline  and 
to  render  the  administrator  helpless  in  his  control  over 
subordinates,  but  this  contention  does  not  seem  to  be 
borne  out  by  the  facts  of  experience.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  trial  board  method  appears  to  be  a  long  step  toward 
greater  democracy  in  employment  and  gives  fuller  recog- 
nition to  the  right  of  every  person  to  a  job  for  which  he 
is  fitted  and  to  continuity  of  employment  as  long  as  he 
gives  honest  and  efficient  service.  It  certainly  makes  for 
greater  security  of  tenure  and  a  more  attractive  public 
service. 

Adequate  and  Fair  Compensation. — Another  im- 
portant factor  in  rendering  public  service  attractive  is 
the  adequacy  and  fairness  of  the  salaries  and  wages  paid 
by  the  government.  This,  of  course,  immediately  raises 
the  question — What  is  an  adequate  salary  or  wage  ?    To 


2o8       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

attempt  a  complete  answer,  even  if  this  were  possible, 
would  carry  us  far  afield  in  the  realm  of  economic  and 
political  theory,  and  in  this  brief  discussion  there  is  not 
time  for  such  a  digression.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  even 
the  very  lowest  paid  workers  ought  to  be  given  at  least 
sufficient  remuneration  to  enable  them  to  live  under 
healthful  and  decent  conditions  and  to  give  their  chil- 
dren a  fair  start  in  the  world;  and  that  every  worker, 
no  matter  what  his  rank,  should  be  enabled  at  least  to 
possess  the  tools  of  his  occupation,  by  "tools"  being 
meant  those  things  which  are  essential  to  the  efficient 
performance  of  the  work  in  hand,  ranging  all  the  way 
from  the  carpenter's  saw  to  the  scholar's  library  and 
the  specialist's  membership  in  scientific  and  technical 
societies.  This  can  hardly  be  called  a  "standard"  of 
adequacy,  and  is  not  advanced  as  such;  it  is  rather  an 
ideal,  or  a  point  of  view,  intended  to  govern  the  fixing 
of  compensation  for  public  servants.       w 

With  this  somewhat  elastic  concept  in  mind,  what  can 
be  said  of  the  adequacy  of  salari^  ancj  wages  in  the 
public  service?  In  the  first  place,  it  is  difficult  to  gen- 
eralize on  this  question,  except  within  certain  narrow 
limits.  Conditions  vary  under  different  jurisdictions  and 
in  different  classes  of  employment  under  the  same  juris- 
diction. It  is  fairly  safe  to  say,  however,  that  the  lower 
grade  workers,  especially  along  manual  lines,  usually  fare 
better  in  the  ertiploy  of  the  government  than  in  private 
service,  but  even  in  the  former  they  are  none  too  well 
remunerated  in  these  days  of  soaring  costs,  and  quite 
frequently  they  are  underpaid.  In  years  past,  office 
employees  and  also  professional,  scientific  and  technical 
workers  of  the  lower  ranks  enjoyed  a  substantial  margin 
of  income  over  their  fellow  workers  in  commercial  and 
industrial  life,  but  during  the  last  few  years  this  margin 


MAKING  PUBLIC  SERVICE  ATTRACTIVE    209 

has  been  rapidly  diminishing,  and  in  some  instances 
conditions  have  actually  become  reversed  on  account  of 
the  lesser  flexibility  of  public  salaries  in  adjusting  them- 
selves to  ojfianged  standards  of  living.  Many  public 
servants  belonging  to  this  group  are  undergoing  severe 
hardships  because  of  inadequate  pay.  When  we  reach 
the  higher  executive  and  administrative  offices  the  gen- 
eral range  of  salaries  can  hardly  be  called  inadequate, 
unless  we  accept  as  our  standard  a  not  unusual  practice 
in  private  business  and  industry  where  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  employees  are  frequently  kept  down  to  the 
starvation  level  while  the  directing  officials  are  granted 
^princely  emoluments  far  in  excess  of  the  ordinary  de- 
mands of  life.  It  is  none  the  less  true,  however,  that  the 
l!9l0$v  salaries  paid  outside  make  it  difficult  at  times  to 
secure  the  ablest  men  for  executive  positions  in  the  pub- 
lic service. 

The  whole  problem  of  public  salaries  and  wages  will 
doubtless  become  more  difficult  in  the  future  than  it  has 
^Rn  in  the  past.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  almost  inevi- 
table that  with  the  rapid  expansion  of  governmental  ac- 
tivities there  will  be  a  corresponding  increase  in  the 
number  of  public  servants  whose  salary  needs  must  be 
given  attention.  In  the  second  place,  there  is  the  rising 
cost  of  living  which  has  already  reached  a  point  quite  on 
a  level  with  the  general  range  of  public  salaries,  and  in 
many  places  a  point  above  that  level.  It  is,  therefore,  no 
longer  possible  to  permit  the  old  payroll  rates  to  continue 
for  indefinite  periods  without  adjustment  of  any  kind,  as 
was  formerly  done.  The  situation  has  become  urgent 
and  must  be  met  without  much  delay. 

Fortunately  the  way  is  being  paved  for  dealing  with 
this  problem  in  a  more  intelligent  manner  than  hereto- 
fore.    The  standardization  movement,  which  has  been 


210       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

described  briefly  in  another  chapter,  is  accomplishing  the 
important  work  of  equalizing  the  conditions  of  employ- 
ment and  thus  providing  an  equitable  basis  for  horizontal 
changes  in  compensation.  All  the  more  enlightened  legis- 
lative bodies  as  well  as  civil  service  commissions  have 
come  to  realize  the  primary  necessity  of  such  a  measure 
in  undertaking  any  extensive  revision  of  the  public  pay- 
rolls. It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  an  equal- 
ization of  pay  for  similar  employments  is  not  of  itself 
a  solution  of  the  salary  problem,  for  it  is  equally  im- 
portant to  effect  a  distribution  of  the  payroll  funds  along 
sound  social  and  economic  lines,  which  may  mean  some- 
thing quite  different  from  copying  the  practices  of  private 
business  establishments.  This  latter  task  will  require 
a  broad  social  vision  as  well  as  a  vast  fund  of  informa- 
tion regarding  the  conditions  of  employment  and  the 
needs  of  all  classes  of  government  employees,  and  upon 
the  manner  of  its  performance  will  depend  very  largely 
the  future  attractiveness  of  the  public  service  from  the 
standpoint  of  remuneration. 

Opportunities  for  Promotion. — A  third  essential  to 
an  attractive  public  service  is  the  opportunity  of  pro- 
motion offered  to  employees.  The  importance  of  this 
can  hardly  be  overestimated.  The  prospect  of  rising  in 
rank  on  a  merit  basis  and  attaining  to  positions  of  honor 
and  distinction  as  well  as  higher  compensation  is  a 
powerful  drawing  card,  while  the  absence  of  this  pros- 
pect is  bound  in  time  to  prove  disastrous  to  the  service. 

In  cities  that  are  still  under  the  spoils  system  there 
is  usually  little  more  than  a  gambler's  chance  of  reach- 
ing higher  posts  by  promotion,  and  merit,  of  course,  is 
quite  a  secondary  consideration  in  the  matter.    The  sue- 


MAKING  PUBLIC  SERVICE  ATTRACTIVE    211 

cessful  wire  puller  or  vote  getter  as  a  rule  fares  much 
better  than  the  man  who  simply  attends  to  his  duties. 

More  favorable  conditions  of  promotion  obtain  in  those 
branches  of  the  public  service  where  the  merit  system  has 
been  established,  although  even  there  the  ideal  is  often 
far  from  realized.  To  a  limited  extent  the  appointing 
officer  is  still  given  free  rein  to  promote  whomever  he 
wishes,  subject  only  to  the  perfunctory  approval  of  the 
civil  service  commission.  In .  nearly  all  the  larger  and 
the  more  progressive  cities  that  have  the  merit  system, 
however,  promotions  are  controlled  more  effectively  by 
the  civil  service  commission  and  are  determined  by  com- 
petitive promotion  examinations.  As  a  general  rule, 
these  examinations  consist  of  a  written  mental  test  and 
a  comparative  rating  of  the  seniority  and  efficiency  of 
the  various  competitors,  although  there  are  variations 
from  this  rule.  Since  the  factor  of  efficiency  is  difficult 
to  ascertain,  a  considerable  number  of  commissions  do 
not  include  it  in  the  promotion  test,  and  a  number  of 
other  commissions  do  not  place  any  value  on  mere 
seniority  in  service.  A  few  civil  service  commissions 
simply  give  an  ordinary  mental  examination  to  provide 
list  of  eligibles  for  promotion.  In  most  cases,  the  ap- 
pointing officer  has  the  same  limited  choice  from  the 
resulting  list  of  eligibles  that  he  has  in  making  appoint- 
ments from  original  entrance  lists.  In  a  small  number  of 
cities  a  wider  choice  is  permitted  from  promotion  lists. 

As  already  intimated,  one  of  the  most  difficult  prob- 
lems connected  with  promotion  examinations  is  that  of 
ascertaining  the  relative  efficiency  of  competitors.  The 
only  feasible  means  seems  to  be  to  maintain  efficiency 
records  of  employees,  but  thus  far  experiments  along 
this  line  have  not  been  any  too  encouraging.  In  many 
employments  it  has  been  difficult  to  devise  satisfactory 


212       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

standards  for  marking  efficiency,  and  without  definite 
standards  the  markings  are  almost  useless  for  compara- 
tive purposes.  It  still  remains  to  be  seen,  therefore, 
whether  or  not  the  idea  is  of  real  practical  value. 

A  further  consideration  that  vitally  concerns  the  prob- 
lem of  promotion  is  the  degree  of  standardization  that 
obtains  within  the  service.  Unless  the  various  employ- 
ments have  been  properly  classified  and  graded  and 
salaries  have  been  brought  into  adjustment  with  duties, 
there  can  be  no  orderly  or  equitable  application  of  any 
scheme  of  promotion.  Until  recently  this  phase  of  the 
problem  was  almost  wholly  neglected,  but  the  movement 
toward  standardization  which  is  now  under  way  is  grad- 
ually correcting  the  haphazard  conditions  of  employment 
that  have  been  for  so  long  an  obstacle  to  equitable  pro- 
motion. 

Finally,  it  is  important  that  the  higher  grade  positions 
and  offices  in  the  public  service  may  be  reached  by  com- 
petitive methods  and  in  the  regular  line  of  promotion.  In 
this  respect  conditions  in  our  cities  are  much  better  to- 
day than  they  were  ten  or  fifteen  years  ago,  but  even 
now  there  is  room  for  considerable  improvement.  In 
many  cities  the  more  important  and  high  salaried  jobs- 
still  go  to  political  favorites  rather  than  to  men  of 
demonstrated  merit  within  the  service.  It  is  encourag- 
ing, however,  that  the  adaptability  of  the  competitive 
examination  to  the  very  highest  grade  of  public  positions 
is  being  demonstrated  so  effectively  by  the  more  pro- 
gressive civil  service  commissions  throughout  the  coun- 
try. As  soon  as  competition  becomes  the  accepted 
method  of  filling  these  important  posts  at  the  top,  our 
public  service  will  offer  much  more  attractive  opportuni- 
ties for  promotion  than  it  does  at  the  present  time. 


MAKING  PUBLIC  SERVICE  ATTRACTIVE    213 

Welfare  Work  for  Public  Servants.^-A  fourtfi  con- 
sideration in  making  the  public  service  attractive  is  what 
has  come  to  be  known  quite  generally  as  "welfare  work." 
Very  often  this  term  is  used  loosely  to  embrace  prac- 
tically every  condition  of  employment — from  the  pro- 
vision of  sanitary  drinking  cups  to  old  age  pensions — 
that  in  any  way  affects  the  well  being  of  employees.  The 
sense  in  which  it  is  here  used,  however,  is  more  restricted 
and  confines  our  attention  to  what  is  being  done  for 
employees  in  active  service  aside  from  meeting  the  more 
formal  obligations  of  employment  such  as  assuring  se- 
curity of  tenure,  paying  adequate  salaries  and  wages, 
and  providing  opportunities  for  promotion.  Welfare 
work  thus  defined  would  include  the  maintenance  of  a 
healthful  and  attractive  physical  environment  for  work, 
provision  for  recreation  and  social  diversions,  special 
assistance  in  case  of  sickness,  accident  or  financial  stress, 
and  other  similar  services  that  employees  may  need. 
Work  of  this  character  may  be  performed  wholly  by 
the  government,  or  it  may  be  carried  on  in  part  by  the 
cooperative  effort  of  employees  themselves. 

On  the  whole,  it  may  be  said  that  welfare  work  in 
public  service  in  this  country  is  still  in  its  infancy,  just 
as  it  is  in  private  industry.  A  few  of  the  larger  cities, 
one  state  and  the  federal  government  have  made  con- 
siderable progress  along  this  line,  but  in  the  remainder  of 
the  public  service  practically  nothing  at  all  noteworthy 
has  been  done.  It  is  natural,  of  course,  that  work  of 
this  character  should  begin  in  the  larger  services  and  in 
congested  communities  long  before  the  need  of  it  is  felt 
in  smaller  organizations  and  in  less  densely  populated 
places. 

Leadership  in  welfare  work  probably  belongs  to  the 
departments  of  the  federal  government  in  Washington, 


214       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

D.  C.  There  the  matter  has  been  taken  up  in  a  serious 
and  comprehensive  manner  by  the  chief  clerks  of  the 
various  departments,  and  a  number  of  important  activi- 
ties are  already  under  way.  Among  these  may  be  men- 
tioned the  emergency  surgical  and  medical  service  to 
employees  taken  ill  or  injured  while  at  work ;  the  periodi- 
cal inspection  of  officers  to  insure  that  sanitary  conditions 
are  maintained;  the  provision  of  tea  rooms,  lunch  rooms 
and  rest  rooms  within  the  office  buildings  for  the  con- 
venience of  employees,  and  also  the  roof  gardens  over- 
head for  recreation;  the  various  organizations  of  em- 
ployees with  their  social,  educational  and  beneficial  fea- 
tures; and  the  cooperative  purchasing  of  food  and  sup- 
plies to  reduce  the  cost  of  living.  In  the  larger  cities, 
particularly  in  New  York,  similar  efforts  are  being  made, 
though  not  always  on  the  same  extensive  scale.  In  a 
large  measure  the  employees  themselves  carry  on  these 
activities.  Mutual  beneficial  funds  for  the  payment  of 
sickness  or  death  benefits  are  very  common.  Coopera- 
tive purchasing,  credit  unions  and  building  and  loan 
associations  are  also  quite  popular.  Organizations  for 
athletic  sports  are  frequent,  and  the  different  employees' 
associations  usually  hold  social  functions  to  develop  a 
closer  acquaintance  and  better  fellowship  among  their 
members.  In  the  state  service  of  Wiscoilsin  the  civil 
service  commission  has  taken  the  leadership  in  a  number 
of  welfare  activities,  particularly  along  educational  and, 
recreational  lines.  It  has  been  instrumental  in  organiz- 
ing groups  of  employees  for  the  purpose  of  self-improve- 
ment, hearing  lectures,  taking  cross  country  hikes,  play- 
ing tennis  and  baseball,  and  developing  a  better  spirit 
of  fellowship  in  the  service. 

From  this  brief  summary  it  will  be  appreciated  that 
while  the  welfare  activities  now  carried  on  in  rather 


MAKING  PUBLIC  SERVICE  ATTRACTIVE     215 

scattered  fashion  are  not  of  overwhelming  importance, 
yet  they  help  to  make  public  employment  more  attrac- 
tive than  it  would  otherwise  be.  In  the  course  of  time, 
no  doubt,  activities  of  this  character  will  become  more 
widespread  throughout  the  public  service  as  well  as 
more  thoroughly  developed  and  efficiently  organized.  It 
should  be  remembered,  however,  that,  after  all,  the  most 
fundamental  welfare  service  that  any  employer,  whether 
public  or  private,  can  render  to  his  employees  is  to  pay 
adequate  salaries  and  wages,  and  that  if  he  fails  in  this 
any  other  welfare  measures  will  be  justly  viewed  with 
suspicion  by  both  employees  and  the  public. 

Disability  and  Retirement  Allowances. — A  fifth  fac- 
tor of  importance  in  rendering  public  service  attractive  is 
the  provision  made  for  disability  and  old  age.  While 
social  and  economic  necessity  is  a  much  more  powerful 
argument  for  some  system  of  disability  and  retirement 
allowances  than  the  fact  that  such  a  system  helps  to  make 
the  service  attractive,  yet  the  latter  consideration  is  not 
to  be  passed  over  too  lightly.  With  the  opportunities  of 
pioneer  life  almost  gone,  a  person  now  about  to  enter 
the  employ  of  any  establishment,  whether  public  or  pri- 
vate, is  much  more  concerned  about  what  definite  pro- 
vision has  been  made  for  his  security  after  the  years  of 
usefulness  have  passed  than  he  was  fifty  years  ago,  when 
his  chances  of  making  a  fortune  were  very  much  better. 
All  other  things  being  equal,  the  prospective  employee  of 
to-day  will  cast  his  lot  with  the  firm  or  enterprise  that 
maintains  an  equitable  system  of  pension  and  disability 
allowances  rather  than  with  one  that  fails  to  do  so. 

As  in  case  of  many  other  forms  of  social  legislation, 
the  United  States  has  been  much  slower  in  adopting  the 
idea  of  civil  pensions  than  most  European  countries. 


2i6       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

The  last  two  decades,  however,  have  witnessed  a  rapid 
growth  in  the  number  of  laws  providing  retirement  al- 
lowances for  various  classes  of  public  servants.  Prac- 
tically all  of  our  larger  cities  and  many  of  the  smaller 
cities  now  have  all  or  part  of  their  civil  employees  under 
the  protection  of  a  pension  plan  of  one  kind  or  another. 
Thus  far,  teachers,  policemen  and  firemen  have  been  the 
most  favored  classes  in  this  respect.  This  is  due  per- 
haps to  their  larger  memberships,  their  better  group 
organizations,  their  closer  contact  with  the  every  day  life 
of  the  people,  and  the  standardized  conditions  of  their 
employment.  Doubtless  the  hazards  of  the  occupation 
of  firemen  and  policemen  have  helped  these  two  classes 
of  employees  to  obtain  favorable  consideration  for  their 
demands.  That  the  pension  idea  will  in  time  be  extended 
to  all  other  groups  of  public  employees  is  inevitable.  A 
considerable  number  of  American  cities,  among  them 
New  York,  Chicago,  Philadelphia  and  Boston,  already 
have  in  eifect  pension  plans  that  cover  all  classes  of 
municipal  employees.  The  federal  government  as  well 
as  practically  all  of  the  state  governments  unfortunately 
have  not  yet  made  any  provision  for  the  superannuated 
employees  directly  under  their  jurisdiction. 

Commendable  as  the  pension  movement  itself  is,  the 
character  of  the  various  pension  plans  adopted  in  the 
United  States  is  by  no  means  free  from  criticism.  Gen- 
erally speaking,  these  plans  have  been  devised  in  a  hap- 
hazard manner  and  with  slight  regard  for  actuarial  data. 
The  probable  cost  has  seldom  been  anticipated,  and  many 
public  pension  funds  are  either  already  bankrupt  or 
rapidly  approaching  bankruptcy.  There  has  been  also 
much  haziness  regarding  the  fundamental  principles  that 
should  underlie  any  adequate  and  equitable  system  of 
pensions.     As  a  result,  many  of  these  plans  are  not  only 


MAKING  PUBLIC  SERVICE  ATTRACTIVE    217 

unstable  financially,  but  operate  unfairly  to  all  parties 
concerned. 

The  outlook  for  the  future,  however,  is  encouraging. 
During  the  past  few  years  more  thought  has  been  given 
to  the  whole  problem  of  superannuation  and  old  age 
pensions  than  at  any  previous  time  in  our  history.  Spe- 
cial investigations  are  being  made  into  the  operation  of 
various  public  pension  funds  and  a  more  intelligent  grasp 
of  the  essentials  of  pension  legislation  is  resulting.  In 
this  connection  mention  should  be  made  of  the  recent 
report  of  the  Carnegie  Foundation  for  the  Advancement 
of  Teaching,  recommending  "a  comprehensive  plan  of 
insurance  and  annuities  for  college  teachers"  in  which  the 
fundamentals  of  the  problem  are  discussed  with  unusual 
clarity.  The  report  of  the  commission  on  pensions  of 
New  York  City  setting  forth  the  results  of  an  investiga- 
tion of  various  pension  funds  established  for  New  York 
City  employees  also  contains  valuable  material  on  the 
subject.  If  this  spirit  of  inquiry  continues  in  the  future, 
we  may  confidently  look  forward,  not  only  to  a  further 
spread  of  pension  legislation,  but  also  to  a  decided  im- 
provement in  the  character  of  our  pension  laws. 

Popular  Appreciation  of  the  Public  Service  as  a  Life 
Career. — Finally  if  the  public  service  is  to  be  made 
attractive,  it  is  important  that  public  servants  be  held  in 
popular  esteem  rather  than  in  popular  contempt.  Un- 
less this  condition  is  brought  about,  all  the  other  measures 
to  make  public  employment  more  attractive  will  fail  to 
accomplish  their  full  purpose. 

In  the  early  history  of  this  country  the  spoils  system 
unfortunately  brought  the  entire  public  service  into  dis- 
repute. The  inefficiency  and  corruption  in  government 
which  were  due  very  largely  to  the  spoils  system  naturally 


2i8        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

reflected  upon  the  character  of  those  who  were  in  gov- 
ernment employ.  At  the  same  time  private  business  and 
industry  were  making  rapid  strides  and  commanding 
public  attention,  while  the  activities  of  government  were 
being  repressed  by  the  persistance  of  the  laissez  faire 
doctrine  of  political  thought.  In  consequence  of  this 
development  there  came  to  be  attached  to  the  government 
employee  not  only  the  odium  of  inefficiency  and  dishon- 
esty but  the  almost  equally  repellent  stigma  of  being 
engaged  in  an  unimportant  enterprise. 

During  the  last  few  decades,  however,  the  conditions 
that  originally  provoked  this  unfavorable  popular  attitude 
have  been  radically  changed.  The  spoils  system,  it  is 
true,  has  not  been  wholly  uprooted  from  public  life,  but 
it  has  been  greatly  restricted  by  the  progress  of  civil 
service  reform.  Outright  corruption  is  now  an  excep- 
tional thing  in  public  administration,  and  even  inefficiency 
is  no  longer  so  prevalent  as  it  used  to  be.  As  for  the 
laissez  faire  theory  of  government,  that  has  been  com- 
pletely abandoned  in  our  political  conduct  if  not  always 
in  our  political  thinking.  Governmental  activities  are 
expanding  constantly  and  are  daily  becoming  more  vital 
to  the  well-being  of  every  citizen  in  the  land.  Business 
and  industry,  formerly  so  arrogant  and  all-powerful, 
have  been  compelled  to  yield  to  the  regulating  arm  of 
government,  and  as  time  goes  on  will  very  likely  have  to 
yield  even  more  to  the  one  potent  agency  of  public  wel- 
fare. Whatever  else  may  be  said  of  government  in 
these  days,  it  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  unimportant. 

With  this  change  in  the  background  of  public  employ- 
ment, there  ought  to  be  a  corresponding  change  in  the 
popular  attitude  toward  public  service  itself.  Doubtless 
this  change  is  taking  place,  imperceptibly  at  times  per- 
haps, but  none  the  less  actually  and  inevitably.     Cer- 


MAKING  PUBLIC  SERVICE  ATTRACTIVE    219 

tainly  a  change  is  observable  in  the  attitude  of  people 
toward  the  higher  grade  of  public  servants,  that  is,  to- 
ward the  technical  and  professional  men  who  are  in 
posts  of  great  responsibility.  There  are  also  indications 
of  a  more  favorable  attitude  toward  the  underlings  in 
governmental  departments.  In  cities  like  New  York, 
Chicago  and  Philadelphia,  it  is  no  longer  a  positive  handi- 
cap to  an  applicant  for  private  employment  to  have  been 
engaged  as  a  civil  service  appointee  under  the  city  gov- 
ernment. The'  gradual  infiltration  of  college  graduates 
into  the  public  service  is  another  weather  vane  of  the 
popular  mind  regarding  the  dignity  of  serving  the  state. 
Then,  too,  we  have  numerous  civic  agencies,  such  as  gov- 
ernmental research  bureaus,  the  society  for  the  promotion 
of  training  for  public  service,  training  schools  for  public 
service,  and  other  similar  organizations,  all  of  which 
emphasize  among  other  things  the  importance  of  public 
service.  If  our  governments  continue  to  increase  in  effi- 
ciency and  if  the  work  of  educating  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  people  with  regard  to  the  real  facts  and  needs  of 
government  goes  forward  at  its  present  pace,  the  time 
can  not  be  far  distant  when  the  American  people  will 
accept  at  its  full  value  the  saying,  **There  can  be  no 
higher  ambition  than  that  of  serving  the  state,  nothing 
more  creditable  than  to  serve  it  well." 

Two  Minor  Considerations. — Besides  these  six 
major  considerations  in  making  the  public  service  at- 
tractive, there  are  two  others  of  minor  importance  that 
should  not  be  wholly  overlooked.  One  of  these  is  the 
abolition  of  the  practice  of  assessing  office-holders  for 
political  purposes.  Fortunately  this  practice  is  becom- 
ing less  and  less  prevalent,  although  it  still  continues  in 
some  of  the  less  advanced  communities.     The  other  is  the 


220        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

correction  of  the  abuse  of  requiring  public  employees  to 
perform  political  services  for  party  organizations.  This, 
too,  has  been  greatly  restricted  in  recent  years,  but  by 
no  means  eradicated  entirely.  Both  practices  are  relics 
of  the  spoils  system  and  are  certain  to  disappear  along 
with  other  features  of  that  time-dishonored  institution. 
How  directly  the  removal  of  these  two  abuses  will  con- 
tribute to  the  attractiveness  of  the  public  service  is  quite 
obvious. 

Summary. — The  importance  of  making  the  public  ser- 
vice attractive  has  been  pointed  out  in  the  opening  re- 
marks of  this  chapter.  We  cannot  hope  to  obtain  and 
keep  the  best  talent  in  the  public  service  unless  we  do 
make  it  attractive.  In  the  last  analysis,  however,  the 
problem  of  making  the  public  service  attractive  is  one 
with  that  of  making  public  employment  democratic,  equi- 
table and  efficient.  Our  concern  should  not  be  so  much  to 
provide  an  artificial  glamour  that  will  lure  men  into  public 
careers  as  it  should  be  to  devise  and  build  up  rules  and 
conditions  of  employment  that  will  give  practical  effect 
to  the  principles  for  which  we  are  striving.  If,  in  addi- 
tion to  selecting  men  for  the  public  service  on  a  merit 
basis,  we  assure  them  of  security  in  tenure  during  honest 
and  efficient  service,  give  them  fair  and  adequate  re- 
muneration, offer  them  opportunities  for  promotion  ac- 
cording to  merit,  provide  for  them  agreeable  and  health- 
ful working  conditions,  make  it  possible  for  them  to 
fortify  their  old  age  or  days  of  disability  against  want 
and  give  them  the  consciousness  of  being  engaged  in 
an  honorable  calling,  then  we  are  well  on  our  way,  not 
only  to  a  more  attractive  public  service,  but  also  to  a  sys- 
tem of  employment  that  expresses  in  practical  operation 
our  highest  ideals  of  democracy,  equity  and  efficiency. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

UTILITY  PROBLEMS  AND  EXPERT  CITY 
GOVERNMENT 

IT  has  been  well  said  that  no  one  process  of  Nature 
is  more  interesting  or  more  wonderful  than  any 
other  process  of  Nature,  and  it  may  be  likewise  asserted 
that  no  one  department  of  the  activities  of  a  modern 
city  is  of  greater  importance  to  its  inhabitants  than  any 
other  department.  And  yet,  in  considering  city  admin- 
istration in  its  relation  to  the  need  of  experts  in  gov- 
ernment, the  activities  we  have  come  to  call  public  utilities 
come  closer  to  the  lives  of  the  people  every  day  of  the 
year  and  are  seemingly  more  important  than  any  other. 
We  are  likely  to  think  of  the  city's  financial  manage- 
ment once  or  twice  a  year  when  we  pay  our  taxes;  we 
may  inquire  into  the  administration  of  the  health  de- 
partment when  there  is  a  threatened  epidemic ;  but  water, 
gas,  street  railways,  telephones  and  electric  current  touch 
us  daily  in  a  thousand  ways,  and  with  an  insistence  that 
challenges  our  attention,  particularly  if  there  is  any  lack 
of  efficient  service  or  other  cause  for  complaint.  There 
need  be  no  apology,  therefore,  for  considering  here  in 
some  detail  the  value  of  expert  service  in  caring  for  these 
very  vital  requirements  of  modern  city  life. 

Public  Utilities  Mostly  Privately  Owned. — By  far 
the  greater  number  of  municipal  utilities  in  American 

221 


222   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

cities  are  privately  owned.  Waterworks  are  an  excep- 
tion to  this  rule,  and  this  largely  because  opponents  of 
public  ownership  usually  advocate  public  ownership  for 
this  particular  utility  for  sanitary  reasons ;  yet  in  a  list 
of  nearly  four  hundred  American  cities  published  by 
the  Municipal  Journal  in  1912,  twenty-four  and  one-half 
percent  had  privately  owned  waterworks.  It  is  likely 
that  four-fifths  of  the  utility  problems  which  come  up  to 
public  officials  for  solution  are  in  connection  with  pri- 
vately owned  and  operated  utilities. 

Securing  Franchises  for  Public  Utilities. — To  begin 
such  a  business,  a  grant  of  rights  upon  the  streets  is 
necessary,  and  a  franchise  of  one  sort  or  another  must 
be  obtained.  Now  come  before  the  city  council  represen- 
tatives of  the  applicant,  bearing  a  document  ready-pre- 
pared by  their  own  legal  talent,  reading  to  the  layman  as 
if  the  city  and  not  the  corporation  were  to  receive  the 
chief  benefits  of  the  grant.  And,  indeed,  the  assured 
benefit  to  the  city  may  be  very  great,  but  it  is  fair  to 
assume  that  the  chief  incentive  of  the  applicant  is  the 
possible  profits  from  the  enterprise,  and  that  no  pains 
have  been  spared  to  write  the  franchise  so  as  to  produce 
them. 

If  the  business  is  a  new  one,  proposing  to  furnish  a 
service  not  heretofore  had  in  the  city,  the  city  council  is 
inclined  to  accept  it  on  the  terms  offered.  In  the  early 
history  of  electric  lighting  there  were  instances  where 
blanket  grants  were  made  "to  any  company  desiring  to 
supply  the  city  with  electric  lights."  Early  franchises 
were  usually  brief,  and  frequently  contained  nothing 
whatever  regarding  the  quality  or  price  to  the  consumers 
of  the  service  rendered;  now  it  is  thought  necessary  to 
write  into  a  franchise  specific  provisions  covering  all  the 


EXPERTS  AND  UTILITY  PROBLEMS     223 

principal  points  on  contact  between  the  grantee,  the  city 
government  and  the  patrons  of  the  utility. 

The  Lion  and  the  Mouse. — Where  a  city  is  large  and 
growing  rapidly,  and  the  prospects  are  favorable  for 
substantial  profits  from  the  utility,  applicants  for  fran- 
chises are  likely  to  appear  before  the  city  council  with 
a  formidable  array  of  experts,  engineers  and  attorneys, 
fortified  with  such  local  support  as  private  interest  or 
political  influence  can  rally,  prepared  with  convincing 
argument  and  plausible  reasoning,  and  ready  at  times, 
when  argument  fails,  to  use  those  subterranean  methods 
of  persuasion  or  coercion  which  have  debauched  councils 
and  produced  the  shameful  conditions  which  have  been 
exposed  in  many  of  our  cities.  The  ordinary  elective 
city  official,  no  matter  how  honest  and  conscientious  he 
may  be,  is  entirely  unfitted  to  cope  with  such  a  situation, 
and  the  weak  or  corrupt  man,  too  frequently  found  in 
public  life,  is  as  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  potter. 

It  is  a  pitiful  sight  to  see  the  representatives  of  most 
cities  contending  before  a  court  or  a  commission  with 
representatives  of  a  public  service  corporation  over  some 
franchise  difference  or  the  reasonableness  of  some  rate 
or  service  rule.  On  the  side  of  the  city  you  will  note  one 
of  the  members  of  the  city  council,  perhaps  a  butcher  or 
a  book  agent,  in  close  confab  with  the  city  attorney, 
elected  to  his  position  for  almost  any  reason  except  his 
qualifications  to  meet  such  a  situation  as  has  now  arisen. 
Rarely  will  the  city  council  allow  the  employment  of  a 
utility  expert;  to  pay  such  a  man  fifty  dollars  per  day 
seems  scandalous  to  the  alderman  who  has  never  earned 
a  thousand  a  year. 

On  the  side  of  the  private  corporation  you  will  see,  if 
the  matter  is  of  considerable  importance,  a  collection  of 


224       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

men  skilled  in  the  conduct  of  such  cases,  company  offi- 
cials, attorneys,  engineers,  accountants,  experts  in  their 
lines,  acute,  keen,  resourceful,  brought  if  necessary  from 
across  the  continent,  selected  for  their  ability  as  wit- 
nesses as  well  as  for  their  professional  acquirements, 
used  to  all  the  intricacies  of  such  procedure  and  possess- 
ing every  means  of  upholding  their  side  of  the  contro- 
versy which  brains  can  suggest  and  money  procure. 
The  mouse  may  sometimes  gain  an  advantage  over  the 
lion,  but  the  chances  will  all  be  against  it. 

Why  Experts  are  Needed  in  Framing  Franchises. — 
Let  us  assume  that  most  city  officials  would  do  right  if 
they  knew  what  is  right;  but  franchise  conditions  are 
not  usually  questions  of  abstract  right  or  wrong,  and 
cannot  be  adjusted  upon  that  basis.  Some  franchise 
problems  are  those  of  broad  and  general  policy,  and  these 
should  be  comprehended  and  settled  by  the  elected  rep- 
resentatives of  the  people ;  but  most  of  them  are  so  tech- 
nical that  they  can  be  satisfactorily  solved  only  with  the 
advice  and  assistance  of  the  expert,  the  trained  and 
experienced  man  who  can  bring  to  their  solution  not 
only  the  results  of  his  personal  training  and  experience 
but  also  the  experience  of  others,  gleaned  from  his  spe- 
cial knowledge  of  how  to  find  and  adapt  the  records  of 
their  accomplishments  to  the  use  and  benefit  of  his  own 
city. 

In  a  franchise  recently  asked  for  in  a  western  city,  it 
was  found  that  the  applicant,  in  the  preparation  of  the 
document,  had  omitted  provisions  covering  not  less  than 
thirty  specific  and  separate  points,  all  more  or  less  im- 
portant in  the  conduct  of  the  business  and  in  the  relation- 
ship of  its  activities  to  the  interests  of  the  public  which 
it  proposed  to  serve.     All  of  these  were  points  which 


EXPERTS  AND  UTILITY  PROBLEMS     225 

should  be  covered  in  a  modern  utility  franchise.  Among 
them  were  provisions  for  the  use  of  space  on  poles  and 
in  conduits  for  the  city's  wires,  arbitration  of  disputes 
by  the  city  council,  protection  of  life  and  property,  fixing 
rates  for  service,  beginning  and  completing  construction 
within  a  reasonable  period,  purchase  by  the  city,  con- 
trolling sale,  combination  or  pooling,  giving  the  city  ac- 
cess to  books  and  accounts,  keeping  records  in  the  city, 
preventing  discrimination  in  service  or  rates,  keeping  up 
service  to  modern  standards,  and  requiring  wires  placed 
underground  when  so  ordered. 

The  document  was  largely  copied  from  a  franchise 
granted  over  twenty  years  ago,  and  which  contained  all 
the  provisions  which  were  thought  necessary  in  that 
early  era  of  the  business.  At  that  time  the  profession 
of  utility  expert  advisor  to  municipalities  was  not  known 
in  this  country,  and  even  now  the  men  who  successfully 
follow  that  profession  can  be  counted  upon  the  fingers^ 
while  the  officials  of  the  twelve  hundred  American  cities 
having  five  thousand  or  more  population  are  struggling 
almost  daily  with  problems  which  require  expert  knowl- 
edge for  their  solution. 

A  franchise  grant  is  usually  for  a  long  period  of 
time,  and  the  cost  of  mistakes  or  omissions  in  its  form 
and  substance  is  likely  to  multiply  itself  year  after  year 
until  it  reaches  an  enormous  total.  The  cities  of  the 
United  States  have  without  doubt  lost  many  millions  of 
dollars  by  reason  of  hasty,  ill-considered  franchise  grants, 
much  of  which  might  have  been  saved  to  the  people  if 
their  interests  had  been  handled  by  expert  admin- 
istrators. 

Regulation  of  Privately  Owned  Public  Utilities. — 

Nor  is  it  alone  in  the  granting  of  franchises  that  experts 


226   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

are  needed;  the  problems  of  their  administration  are 
fully  as  difficult,  particularly  of  those  grants  which  were 
made  in  the  early  days  when  brevity  was  the  chief  con- 
sideration in  their  drafting.  These  problems  come  up 
for  solution  frequently  during  the  whole  term  of  the 
grant  and  call  constantly  for  the  best  ability  of  the  trained 
and  experienced  man.  The  use  and  care  of  the  streets, 
the  stringing  of  wires  and  cables,  the  conflicting  interests 
of  the  different  utilities  in  their  occupancy  of  public 
places,  and  all  matters  relating  to  the  physical  property 
of  the  utility,  its  installation,  care  and  maintenance  are 
but  the  smaller  part  of  the  problem.  The  greater  part  is 
made  up  of  those  matters  of  business  policy  and  pro- 
cedure in  which  the  utility  comes  into  such  intimate  con- 
tact with  the  public,  its  patrons. 

Safety  provisions,  service  rules,  accounting  and  col- 
lection practices,  rates  and  charges,  extensions  and 
house  connections  are  the  source  of  never-ending  con- 
troversy, and  when  a  citizen  is  in  difficulty  with  a  public 
service  corporation  his  first  appeal  is  to  the  city  official 
whom  he  supposes  has  authority  over  it.  If  the  official 
knows  what  he  is  about,  reasonable  contentions  can 
usually  be  adjusted  without  difficulty,  and  unreasonable 
ones  denied  with  safety.  If  he  is  not  well  posted  upon 
the  rights  and  practices  of  his  local  company  and  the 
usage  in  other  cities,  if  he  does  not  know  the  franchise 
requirements  and  such  statute  and  charter  provisions  as 
bear  upon  the  matter  in  hand,  then  hp  flounders  and 
accomplishes  little  or  nothing. 

Utility  corporations  are  run  by  men  who  know — able, 
keen,  resourceful — experts  in  their  line,  experienced  in 
the  operation  and  the  usages  of  their  business,  following 
it  for  a  life  work.  As  a  rule,  they  are  fair-minded  men, 
ready  to  meet  city  officials  and  customers  halfway,  realiz- 


EXPERTS  AND  UTILITY  PROBLEMS     227 

ing  the  importance  of  building  up  and  keeping  alive  a 
favorable  sentiment  in  the  community  in  regard  to  their 
utility.  Given  city  officials  who  are  experts,  who  know 
their  work  well  and  who  have  a  chance  to  profit  in  salary 
and  tenure  of  office  by  reason  of  their  knowledge,  fidel- 
ity and  ability,  adjustments  are  ordinarily  easy,  and  re- 
lations mutually  satisfactory. 

Even  in  states  where  municipal  utilities  are  controlled 
by  public  service  commissions,  it  will  be  found  that 
when  the  above  stated  conditions  prevail,  most  differ- 
ences are  readily  settled  and  state  commissions  are  greatly 
relieved.  Commissions  are  loath  to  interfere  where  dif- 
ferences can  be  satisfactorily  adjusted  by  local  authori- 
ties. Even  contentions  for  lower  rates  are  frequently 
settled  in  this  way,  with  better  results  for  the  people 
than  when  made  the  subject  of  tedious  and  expensive 
litigation  before  commissions  and  courts.  But  the  pub- 
lic official  must  know  what  he  wants  and  the  reasons  why 
it  should  be  granted. 

Franchise  makers  usually  fail  to  recognize  the  possi- 
bility that  changing  conditions  in  the  business  may  create 
before  the  end  of  the  long  term  of  the  grant  a  situation 
under  which  injustice  may  be  done  either  to  the  corpora- 
tion or  to  its  patrons.  Such  a  situation  occasionally  does 
develop,  and  such  injustice  to  either  party  concerned  is 
never  of  ultimate  benefit  to  the  community.  These 
changes  have  come  in  greatest  measure  to  utilities  de- 
pending upon  electrical  methods  and  contrivances.  The 
development  of  the  art  has  been  so  rapid,  inventions  fol- 
lowing each  other  in  such  speedy  sequence  that  no  one 
was  wise  enough  to  foretell  the  revolutionary  changes  in 
the  industries  involved.  To  meet  such  changes,  to  adapt 
new  inventions  to  public  service  and  to  adjust  the  chang- 
ing relations  between  the  utility  and  its  patrons  by  reason 


228       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

of  their  discovery  and  introduction,  is  a  task  for  trained 
and  experienced  men,  and  one  which  cannot  be  ade- 
quately handled  by  men  elected  for  a  two-  or  three-year 
term  because  of  their  personal  popularity  or  their  political 
affiliations. 

The  "Hello,  Bill"  type  of  politician,  still  too  common 
in  city  official  life,  may  be  able  to  express  the  desires 
of  his  constituents  as  to  whether  or  not  a  bridge  should 
be  built  across  the  creek  at  Main  Street,  but  to  put  him 
in  charge  of  building  the  bridge,  or  to  allow  him  to  place 
one  of  his  henchmen  on  the  job,  is  to  take  a  desperate 
chance  with  the  money  and  the  lives  of  the  citizens. 
Alderman  Jones  may  convince  his  associates  in  the  city 
council  that  the  streets  in  his  ward  are  inadequately 
lighted,  but  if  it  were  put  up  to  him  to  determine  what 
sort  of  lighting  is  the  most  efficient  and  economical  pro- 
curable within  the  appropriation,  he  would  be  at  sea  and 
rudderless. 

Public  Operation  of  Public  Utilities. — Every  busi- 
ness which  can  be  classed  as  a  public  utility  is  carried 
on  somewhere  in  the  cities  of  the  United  States  under 
public  ownership  and  operation,  and  the  tendency  of  the 
time  is  toward  an  increase  in  the  number  of  these  public 
undertakings.  To  place  the  control  and  management 
of  such  a  business  in  the  hands  of  inexperienced  or  un- 
trained men  is  only  to  invite  disaster.  The  record  of 
failures  is  sad  reading,  and  is  made  the  most  of  by  those 
great  interests  which  own  and  operate  private  utilities  in 
many  of  our  cities,  as  an  argument  against  public  owner- 
ship. 

And  yet  the  great  majority  of  such  public  under- 
takings are  successful,  and  they  owe  their  success  to 
the  trained  men  who  are  retained  year  after  year  in  their 


EXPERTS  AND  UTILITY  PROBLEMS     229 

operation.  An  elected  commissioner  or  a  committee  of 
the  city  council  is  put  in  charge  of  a  great  public  business 
— a  waterworks,  electric  lighting  plant  or  gas  works — 
entirely  without  experience  or  training.  If  such  men  are 
honest  and  intelligent,  they  realize  their  ignorance  and, 
desiring  to  serve  their  city  well,  they  will  attack  the  prob- 
lem cautiously,  studying  its  details,  procuring  the  best 
advice  obtainable  and  retaining  the  subordinates  whom 
they  believe  are  competent  and  useful.  If  they  "know  not 
and  know  not  that  they  know  not,"  public  business  suffers. 
But  it  is  unfair  and  discouraging  to  the  competent  expert 
who  furnishes  the  brains  to  make  a  success  of  such  a 
business,  that  he  should  go  through  life  as  an  underling, 
knowing  that  political  conditions  may  bring  about  his 
dismissal  at  any  time  and  that  his  job  is  in  the  hands  of 
officials  unfitted  for  the  work,  who  are  changed  fre- 
quently and  who  are  drawing  the  good  salary  to  which 
he  is  by  right  entitled.  The  best  men  will  not  stay  long 
in  such  a  position. 

Profits  vs.  Service. — There  is  a  fundamental  differ- 
ence between  publicly  and  privately  owned  utilities,  both 
in  general  policy  and,  to  some  extent,  in  administrative 
detail.  A  private  undertaking  is  run  for  profit,  and  a 
public  one  is,  or  should  be,  run  for  service;  a  private 
concern  will  naturally  make  dividends  its  first  considera- 
tion, a  public  one  should  aim  to  earn  only  the  actual  cost 
of  its  service.  The  European  tendency  is  to  make  utili- 
ties pay  a  profit  and  to  use  that  profit  for  the  relief  of 
the  taxpayer,  but  in  the  United  States  that  policy  is  pretty 
generally  frowned  upon.  It  seems  manifestly  unjust  to 
levy  an  extra  tax  upon  the  citizen  in  proportion  to  his 
use  of  water,  by  means  of  a  water  rate  exceeding  the 
cost  of  the  service,  in  order  thereby  to  lighten  the  load 


230        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

of  the  general  taxpayer  who,  according  to  the  theory  of 
taxation  now  operative  in  our  cities,  should  contribute 
in  proportion  to  his  wealth,  or  such  of  it  as  he  is  unable 
to  conceal  from  the  assessor. 

Nor  should  service  rates  for  a  publicly  owned  utility  be 
made  excessive  in  order  to  retire  too  rapidly  the  bonds 
issued  to  finance  its  construction.  In  a  private  utility 
undertaking  the  initial  cost  is  covered  by  issues  of  stock 
and  bonds,  the  former  frequently  issued  in  excessive 
amount  and  representing  little  or  no  real  investment. 
If  the  earnings  are  large  they  are  not  applied  to  debt 
payment,  but  usually  go  to  pay  dividends  upon  further 
issues  of  stock  which  have  constituted  "stock  dividends," 
distributed  gratis  to  the  stockholders,  and  involving  a 
continuing  and  increasing  burden  upon  the  business. 
State  public  service  commissions  not  infrequently  find 
securities  issued  against  public  utilities  in  this  manner, 
which  total  two  or  three  times  the  value  of  the  property. 

Publicly  owned  utilities  should,  and  usually  do,  plan 
to  retire  gradually  their  interest-bearing  debt,  and  when 
a  portion  of  the  bonds  are  retired,  that  portion  no  longer 
figures  as  a  liability  and  no  longer  requires  interest  pay- 
ments. How  rapidly  public  utility  debts  should  be  paid 
is  a  very  interesting  and  important  question,  and  one 
which  demands  careful  study  by  the  administrative  ex- 
pert. Take,  for  example,  a  waterworks  wherein  more 
than  half  the  investment  is  in  a  distributing  system  built 
of  cast  iron  pipe.  We  do  not  know  the  life  of  cast  iron 
pipe,  as  the  oldest  of  which  we  have  knowledge  was  laid 
over  two  hundred  years  ago  and  is  still  intact  in  service. 
By  charging  a  sufficiently  high  price  for  water,  the  debt 
incurred  in  laying'  this  pipe  might  be  paid  off  in  twenty 
years,  the  period  for  which  the  bonds  were  issued;  but 
by  doing  this  we  would  be  placing  an  extra  burden  upon 


EXPERTS  AND  UTILITY  PROBLEMS     231 

the  present-day  water  user  in  order  that  the  consumer  of 
twenty  years  hence  might  get  his  water  for  half  the 
price  we  now  pay.     How  rapidly  shall  we  pay  the  debt? 

Experts  in  public  administration  must  be  qualified  to 
advise  elective,  policy- forming  bodies  as  to  these  and 
other  matters  of  vital  import  in  general  policy  and,  when 
the  general  policy  is  adopted,  to  conform  the  management 
of  the  business  to  that  basis. 

The  Problem  of  Rates. — One  of  the  most  interesting 
and  difficult  problems  in  the  management  of  a  publicly 
operated  utility  is  the  adjustment  of  rates  for  service. 
A  nice  balance  between  justice  and  expediency  must  be 
worked  out,  and  the  satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem 
calls  for  the  best  intelligence  of  the  highest  type  of  ex- 
pert. An  equitable  gas  rate  should  involve  a  fixed 
charge,  applicable  to  each  service  in  proportion  to  its 
size,  sufficient  to  cover  interest  on  plant  investment,  de- 
preciation, accounting  and  all  "overhead  charges,"  and 
not  covering  consumption.  But  thousands  of  consumers 
use  so  little  gas  that  such  a  charge  would  cause  their 
cost  per  thousand  feet  used  to  be  three  or  four  times 
the  cost  to  the  larger  consumer,  and  would  practically 
prohibit  their  use  of  gas.  So  it  has  been  found  expedi- 
ent to  make  a  rate  that  involves  carrying  many  small 
accounts  at  an  actual  loss,  made  up  by  a  slightly  greater 
charge  on  the  larger  accounts. 

The  mysteries  of  '^maximum  demand,"  '^connected 
load"  and  "readiness  to  serve"  make  many  electric  light 
and  power  rates  so  complicated  that  it  is  impossible  for 
the  layman  to  figure  his  bill  from  his  meter  reading,  and 
many  managers  have  become  convinced  that  a  simpler 
rate  is  more  desirable,  even  though  it  is  not  quite  so 
nearly  just.  The  cost  of  city  water  supplied  by  pump- 
ing in  a  hilly  city  depends  to  a  considerable  extent  upon 


232        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

the  height  to  which  it  is  pumped,  yet  it  would  be  con- 
sidered inexpedient  to  charge  the  consumers  on  the 
hills  more  than  is  charged  for  a  like  service  in  the  valleys. 
The  man  who  rides  ten  miles  on  a  street  car  for  five 
cents  rides  at  less  than  the  cost  of  his  transportation, 
this  loss  being  made  up  by  excess  profit  on  carrying  an- 
other passenger  a  few  blocks  for  the  same  fare;  a  flat 
rate  for  any  utility  service  is  no  nearer  absolute  justice 
than  would  be  a  flat  rate  for  your  milkman.  And  yet 
flat  rates  are  expedient  in  some  cases.  To  make  a  rate 
which  will  yield  an  income  covering  all  the  costs  of  the 
service  and  retire  some  of  the  debt  obligations  each 
year ;  that  will  distribute  all  costs  with  reasonable  equity 
between  classes  of  consumers  and  among  individual  pa- 
trons in  each  class ;  to  determine  how  much  of  individual 
service  expenditures  shall,  by  right,  be  borne  by  the 
consumer  and  how  much  be  taken  from  gross  earnings ; 
these  problems  of  public  utility  operation  must  be  solved, 
if  solved  at  all,  by  men  trained  and  experienced  in 
handling  these  intensely  technical  subjects. 

Numerous  Other  Problems  Demanding  the  Expert. 
— But  the  fixing  of  fair  and  reasonable  rates  is  only  a 
part  of  the  expert  service  required  of  the  official  in 
charge  of  a  publicly  owned  and  operated  utility ;  he  has 
other  problems  which  demand  just  as  much  knowledge, 
acumen  and  judgment.  When  a  city  elects  to  go  into 
the  utility  business  (and  that  tendency  is  becoming  more 
and  more  common),  it  must  determine  many  questions 
of  general  policy  in  the  new  business  and  the  thou- 
sand and  one  matters  of  more  or  less  important  detail 
upon  which  the  success  or  failure  ot  tHe  undertaking  may 
depend. 

How  large  a  plant  is  necessary ;  how  far  into  the  future 


EXPERTS  AND  UTILITY  PROBLEMS     233 

shall  its  growth  be  considered;  where  shall  it  be  located 
for  most  economical  operation;  how  shall  the  necessary 
money  be  raised  and  how  rapidly  shall  it  be  repaid ;  what 
source  of  power  shall  be  utilized  and  what  type  of 
machinery  shall  be  purchased;  how  shall  the  product  be 
distributed — all  these  are  questions  of  vital  import  and 
a  wrong  answer  to  any  of  them  may  mean  failure.  No 
official  need  be  qualified  to  decide  them  all  without  the 
assistance  of  specially  employed  experts;  he  would  be 
foolish  to  attempt  it,  but  he  should  have  that  training 
and  experience  which  will  enable  him,  after  obtaining  the 
necessary  data  and  advice,  to  make  intelligent  decisions, 
to  uphold  them  before  his  city  council  and  to  carry  them 
out  efficiently. 

The  Professional  Aspect  of  Expert  Service. — When 
difficult  questions  come  to  the  elective  city,  official,  unless 
he  be  of  a  very  unusual  type,  his  tendency  is  to  delay 
his  decision  in  the  endeavor  to  avoid  it  and  to  bequeath 
it  to  his  successor.  Particularly  is  he  likely  to  procras- 
tinate if  his  decision  one  way  or  the  other  is  likely  to 
bring  censure  or  criticism.  He  shrinks  from  doing  the 
thing  which  he  knows  must  be  done,  and  seeks  plausible 
excuse  for  his  inaction.  He  knows  that  his  time  is 
short,  and  that  people  forget  easily,  and  it  is  but  human 
to  wish  to  escape  from  unpleasant  experiences. 

Not  so  with  the  expert  administrator.  His  tenure  of 
office  is,  or  should  be,  indefinite;  it  depends  upon  his 
determination  and  his  ability  to  meet  the  demands  of  his 
life  work  with  honesty,  intelligence  and  courage,  and  he 
cannot  sidestep  the  issue.  His  fate  does  not  depend 
upon  the  vagaries  of  a  fickle  electorate,  nor  even  upon 
his  giving  satisfaction  to  the  governing  body  of  any  one 


234       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

city,  but  upon  his  making  good  in  a  large  way  in  his 
chosen  profession. 

The  administrative  expert  is  coming  to  American 
cities;  how  soon  he  will  come  depends  upon  the  people 
who  inaugurate  movements  for  civic  advancement  and 
the  voters  who  uphold  them.  It  need  not  be  expected 
that  experts  of  the  highest  type  will  come  to  those  cities 
where  office  holders  are  held  in  distrust  and  hampered 
by  provisions  of  charters  and  laws  which  restrain  and 
embarrass  the  honest  and  efficient  official.  All  progress 
in  governmental  efficiency  must  follow  the  adoption  of  a 
constructive  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  citizenship  toward 
those  who  serve  in  public  office  and  who  are  trained, 
able  and  willing  to  serve  well.  The  expert  is  sorely 
needed,  and  he  will  come  as  soon  as  we  give  him  a  fair 
chance  to  make  good. 


CHAPTER  XV 

TRAINING  TEACHERS:  ITS  LESSONS  FOR  TRAINING 
FOR  PUBLIC  SERVICE* 

THE  administrative  and  supervising  officers  in  our 
best  city  school  systems  are  experts.  They  have 
received  specialized  training.  The  officers  in  other  city 
departments — the  police,  tax  and  public  works  depart- 
ments— ordinarily  are  not  experts.  They  have  not  re- 
ceived special  training.  Except  in  a  very  few  scattered 
instances  it  is  impossible  to  get  such  training.  Should 
such  training  be  given?  If  so,  what  lessons  may  be 
learned  from  the  training  given  those  who  enter  the 
service  of  public  education? 

The  administration  and  operation  of  city,  county  and 
state  school  systems  constitutes  a  public  service  in  the 
full  sense  of  the  word.  School  men  and  women  render 
a  community  service.  They  are  paid  from  public  funds 
and  are  as  truly  public  servants  as  are  the  employees  in 
tax,  health,  public  works,  or  any  other  city  departments. 

*  Public  education  is  the  only  field  of  public  administration 
where  there  is  general  acceptance  of  the  training  for  public 
service  program.  The  program,  particularly  in  city  schools, 
has  been  accepted  for  some  considerable  time.  It  was  felt, 
therefore,  that  in  a  book  like  this  it  is  indispensable  that  a  state- 
ment of  the  forms  and  results  of  such  experience  should  be 
presented. — Editor. 

235 


236   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Many  similarities  between  the  educational  branch  and 
the  other  branches  of  the  public  service  may  be  found 
by  one  who  considers  the  matter  seriously  and  with 
open  mind.  Why,  then,  is  there  an  elaborate  and  suc- 
cessful system  of  training  for  one  branch  of  the  public 
service  and  not  for  all  the  others  ?  This  is  a  question  of 
vital  importance.  It  cannot  be  answered  here  but  it  is 
hoped  that  this  discussion  may  serve  to  arouse  a  sense 
of  real  need  for  such  training  as  well  as  to  suggest  pos- 
sible courses  which  such  training  might  follow.  In  this 
discussion  it  is  assumed  that  the  reader  believes  there  is 
such  a  need  and  that  he  is  interested  in  considering  what 
suggestions  the  field  of  education  has  to  offer. 

Types  of  Training  Schools  and  Classes. — The  system 
of  training  for  service  in  the  public  schools  of  our 
country  provides  for  all,  from  the  humblest  rural  school 
teacher  to  the  superintendent  of  our  largest  city  schools. 
The  following  types  of  schools  and  courses  are  included 
in  this  system  of  training: 

1.  Training  classes  in  high  school: 

The  courses  are  usually  one  year  in  length  and 
prepare  for  teaching  in  the  rural  schools. 

2.  County  training  schools: 

These  schools  are  usually  given  over  to  the  prep- 
aration of  teachers  for  local  rural  and  graded 
schools. 

3.  State  normal  schools: 

The  normal  schools  in  most  cases  cover  the  first 
two  years  of  a  college  course,  but  in  some  cases  the 
work  is  equivalent  to  a  full  college  course.  These 
schools  embody  various  courses.  In  general  they 
train  kindergarten,  primary,  grade  and  some  high 
school  teachers. 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  237 

4.  City  training  schools  : 

Some  cities  maintain  their  own  training  schools 
for  preparing  teachers  for  the  city  system.  (Very 
suggestive  for  other  departments  of  the  city  serv- 
ice.) 

5.  Schools  and  departments  of  education: 

Most  colleges  and  universities  have  their  "Schools 
of  Education"  or  their  "Departments  of  Education." 
They  prepare  largely  for  high  school  teaching  and 
for  administrative  positions  in  the  public  school 
system. 

Some  of  the  university  "Schools  of  Education" 
are  very  highly  organized  and  in  most  cases  they 
offer  graduate  work  leading  to  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Philosophy.  Among  those  taking  courses  in 
these  schools  are  to  be  found  experienced  teachers 
and  school  administrators  preparing  themselves  for 
better  positions  and  for  more  efficient  service. 

With  such  a  system  it  is  possible  for  those  with  the  in- 
clination and  ability  to  receive  training  for  just  the  type 
of  school  work  which  they  prefer  and  for  which  they 
are  fitted.  What  is  more  significant,  the  service  of 
pubHc  education  is  provided  with  specially  trained  men 
and  women.  This  is  a  big  factor  in  developing  an  effi- 
cient service. 

Essentials  in  the  Training  for  the  Field  of  Public 
Education. — Three  things  are  essential  to  the  trained 
and  efficient  man  in  the  field  of  public  education.  They 
are: 

1.  A  selected  and  correlated  body  of  knowledge; 

2.  Ability  and  skill  in  the  application  of  that  knowledge; 

3.  A  comprehension  of  the  social  significance  of  his  job. 

These  three  things  are  also  essential  to  the  trained  and 
efficient  man  in  other  branches  of  the  public  service.     Be- 


238        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

cause  they  have  been  recognized  in  their  entirety  in  the 
training  of  the  public  school  man,  his  work  has  come  to 
be  looked  upon  in  the  light  of  a  profession.  If  work  in 
the  public  service  in  general  is  to  be  looked  upon- in  this 
same  light,  these  same  factors  must  play  an  important 
part  in  the  training  given. 

A  Selected  Body  of  Knowledge. — No  wide  awake 
and  intelligent  school  board  would  choose  a  man  for 
high  school  teacher  of  science  simply  because  he  received 
a  high  general  average  in  his  college  course.  Neither 
would  they  appoint  a  superintendent  on  the  grounds  that 
he  has  been  a  good  teacher  or  a  successful  business  man. 
Employees  for  the  majority  of  positions  in  the  field  of 
public  education  are  chosen  because  of  their  specialized 
training.  The  training  of  the  school  man  prepares  for  a 
definite  thing  which  in  turn  determines  the  distribution  of 
emphasis  among  the  various  parts  of  the  body  of  knowl- 
edge which  he  is  considering.  The  school  man  has  a 
training  in  dealing  with  a  selected  body  of  knowledge, 
selected  because  of  its  useableness  and  its  direct  applica- 
tion to  his  later  work.  The  character  of  the  knowledge 
emphasized  contributes  very  largely  to  the  efficiency  of 
the  man  in  his  work.  This  knowledge  is  so  linked  up 
with  application  that  it  is  readily  recalled  and  is  useable^ 

The  teacher  of  history  must,  in  his  training,  dwell  upon 
those  parts  of  the  subject  that  will  help  him  in  the  great- 
est degree  to  make  clear,  to  those  whom  he  is  to  teach,  the 
true  meaning  of  the  events  of  history.  He  must  be  made 
to  see,  if  he  has  not  before,  that  his  own  whims  and  in- 
terests cannot  guide  him,  but  that  history  has  a  real  value 
only  as  cause  and  effect  are  woven  into  a  chain  of  events 
which  lead  up  to  and  explain  the  movements  and  con- 
ditions of  present-day  life. 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  239 

The  supervising  and  administrative  officer  in  the  field 
of  public  education  must  also  go  through  this  same 
process.  He  has  not  the  intimate  knowledge  of  each 
subject  as  has  the  teacher  who  has  specialized  along 
that  line,  but  he  has  his  own  selected  body  of  knowledge. 
It  has  been  selected  from  various  fields  and  sources  and 
correlated  to  meet  his  special  needs.  One  of  his  business 
friends  may  be  just  as  familiar  with  one  part  of  it  as  he 
is,  another  with  another  part  of  it,  and  so  on.  This 
knowledge  has  been  selected  because  of  its  direct  applica- 
tion to  the  problems  which  he  is  to  meet  in  his  every  day 
work  as  an  administrator  of  public  education.  If  he 
had  gone  through  all  the  branches  of  knowledge  and 
through  all  the  writings  from  which  this  material  was 
gleaned  his  task  would  have  been  many  times  as  long, 
and  what  is  even  more  vital,  the  right  selection  and  cor- 
relation of  this  material  would  not  have  been  made.  The 
special  body  of  knowledge  given  him  in  his  training  is 
selected  not  to  give  him  a  general  idea  of  how  school 
systems  are  administered,  but  rather  to  give  him  some- 
thing to  use  in  his  own  work  of  administration.  It  is 
considered  and  criticized  from  the  dynamic  rather  than 
from  the  static  point  of  view. 

Some  of  the  subjects  he  considers  are: 

School  Hygiene; 

Vocational  Guidance; 

The  High  School  Curriculum; 

Organizing  a  City  School  System; 

Financing  a  City  School  System; 

Public  School  Administration,  etc. 

Why  does  the  administrator  of  a  public  school  system 
have  presented  to  him  a  specially  selected  body  of  knowl- 
edge while  the  administrator  of  the  department  of  public 


240   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

works  or  tax  department  does  not  ?  If  the  work  of  any 
city  or  state  department  is  so  conducted  that  it  calls  for 
the  possession  of  general  knowledge  only,  on  the  part  of 
its  officers,  its  efficiency  and  organization  may  well  be 
questioned.  Unless  there  is  a  reason  why  the  public 
school  administrator  and  his  co-workers  should  reach  a 
higher  degree  of  efficiency  than  should  the  administrator 
of  the  department  of  public  works  and  his  co-workers, 
a  lesson  may  well  be  learned  from  the  care  taken  to  put 
into  the  hands  of  the  schoolman  a  body  of  knowledge 
specially  selected  to  apply  to  the  problems  which  he  as 
a  public  servant  must  meet. 

Skill  in  the  Application  of  Knowledge. — Knowledge 
and  theory  are  inert.  They  may  be  attractive  and  very 
pleasing  and  satisfactory  to  their  possessors,  but  never 
do  they  become  really  live  and  vital  forces  in  the  life  of 
a  community  until  they  have  been  tested  and  reshaped 
through  the  process  of  application.  In  the  training  of 
men  and  women  for  service  in  the  public  schools  this 
principle  is  recognized.  In  this  branch  of  the  public 
service  provision  has  been  made  for  giving  those  in  train- 
ing actual  practice  in  the  very  work  which  they  expect  to 
take  up  and  under  conditions  so  far  as  possible  similar  to 
the  conditions  of  actual  service. 

In  preparing  for  the  work  of  public  education  the 
policy  has  been  developed  of  giving  preliminary  experi- 
ence and  practice  in  the  application  of  knowledge  under 
such  conditions  that  there  will  come  the  maximum  of 
training  and  good  results  and  the  minimum  of 
waste  and  inefficiency.  It  is  a  sort  of  hunching  and  wise 
direction  of  the  knocks  of  experience  under  expert  guid- 
ance. It  is  a  condensing  of  experience.  The  expert  is 
present  to  see  that  the  pupils  giving  the  candidate  the 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  241 

experience,  receive  no  harm  in  the  process.  The  candi- 
date gets  his  experience  under  careful  supervision  before 
he  really  enters  into  the  position  for  which  he  is  prepar- 
ing. This  is  done  and  done  successfully  to-day  in  at 
least  one  branch  of  the  public  service.  Why  not  in  the 
others  ? 

This  development  of  skill  and  ability  in  the  application 
of  knowledge  is  made  possible  in  several  ways.  In  con- 
nection with  training  schools  and  training  classes  for 
prospective  servants  in  the  field  of  education  there  are 
to  be  found : 

1.  Practice  schools  covering  the  work  of  either  the  grades 
or  the  high  school  or  of  both; 

2.  Special  classes  for  practice  teaching; 

3.  Arrangements  for  practice  teaching  in  the  public 
schools ; 

4.  Practice  upon  and  criticism  from  one's  fellow  stu- 
dents ; 

5.  Observation  and  discussion  of  the  organization  and 
work  of  a  model  school  connected  with  the  training  school; 

6.  Observation  and  discussion  of  the  organization  and 
work  of  a  public  school  system. 

All  means  available  to  bring  the  student  into  close  and 
direct  contact  with  the  actual  work  and  problems  of  public 
education  are  brought  to  the  service  of  this  prospective 
public  servant. 

Teachers  and  administrators  are  not  given  all  this 
careful  training  for  the  reason  that  they  are  below  the 
average  in  ability  or  because  they  are  so  unfamiliar  with 
the  field  of  public  education.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  as  a 
whole  they  are  as  familiar  with  this  field  as  those  ap- 
pointed to  positions  in  other  branches  of  public  service 
are  with  the  fields  which  they  enter.  Every  prospective 
teacher  knows  the  public  school  system  rather  intimately 


242       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

before  he  takes  this  training.  He  knows  its  organization ; 
he  knows  many  of  its  defects;  he  has  been  a  victim  of 
its  deficiencies ;  he  has  perhaps  a  number  of  theories  for 
its  improvement.  He  knows  it  well  from' one  point  of 
view,  from  without  the  operating  organization ;  but  in  the 
training  school  he  must  learn  of  its  actions  from  within. 
He  must  learn  what  it  means  to  become  a  part  of  this 
machinery  of  government  for  a  higher  civilization.  He 
must  now  be  trained  to  take  his  place  as  an  efficient 
working  unit  in  this  organization  for  public  education. 

As  a  part  of  the  schedule  of  the  training  school  the 
class  room  teacher  is  assigned  for  a  given  period  to  a 
class  in  the  practice  school.  He  is  to  teach  this  class  for 
a  given  time.  He  prepares  work  according  to  the  prin- 
ciples he  has  learned.  His  method  books  are  of  great 
value  to  him  but  of  even  more  value  is  the  experience 
which  this  class  is  giving  him.  His  theories  get  some 
hard  knocks;  he  makes  readjustments.  He  talks  with 
less  assurance  about  the  right  and  wrong  way  to  teach, 
but  his  working  efficiency  is  increasing  and  that  is  the 
thing  of  real  value,  the  final  result  that  is  sought. 

The  prospective  superintendent  has  probably  had 
experience  as  a  teacher  and  as  a  high  school  principal. 
He  knows  the  system  and  its  workings  from  the  inside 
and  yet  he  feels  the  need  of  further  training.  He  takes 
up  the  study  of  problems  that  confront  the  administrator. 
He  is  given  training  in  the  practical  application  of  his 
knowledge.  As  a  type  of  the  practical  work  done  in  the 
best  of  these  training  schools : — The  prospective  adminis- 
trator assists  in  working  out  plans  and  policies  for  the 
conduct  and  administration  of  the  practice  school.  He 
observes  at  first  hand  the  administration  of  public  educa- 
tion in  some  city.  He  is  assigned  a  real  problem  of 
administration  to  work  out  in  connection  with  a  particular 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  243 

school  system.  And  mark  this: — The  results  of  his 
study  are  of  real  value.  They  deal  with  actual  conditions. 
They  have  been  worked  out  in  cooperation  with  experi- 
enced schoolmen.  The  prospective  public  servant  is 
rendering  a  real  and  immediate  service  to  the  community 
at  the  same  time  that  he  is  getting  his  training  for  fur- 
ther and  wider  service. 

Does  this  have  anything  to  offer  relative  to  training 
for  other  branches  of  public  service?  Are  the  problems 
connected  with  the  administration  of  other  city  depart- 
ments and  commissions  of  sufficient  concern  to  make 
experience  advisable  on  the  part  of  those  who  deal  with 
them  as  the  people's  representatives?  Is  the  university 
graduate  with  his  text-book  knowledge  and  some  experi- 
ence as  a  vote  getter  as  well  qualified  as  he  should  be  to 
plunge  into  the  midst  of  the  administrative  problems  of 
a  department  whose  work  affects  thousands  of  citizens? 
Or  does  he  need  the  preliminary  training  in  the  applica- 
tion of  his  knowledge  of  public  business  as  much  as  does 
the  administrator  of  public  education?  The  laboratory, 
the  workshop,  is  already  here.  Many  are  the  pieces  of 
work  waiting  to  be  taken  up.  It  only  remains  to  so 
organize  as  to  put  this  workshop  to  its  full  use  and  let 
him  who  is  in  training  render  under  expert  guidance  a 
real  service  to  the  community. 

A  Comprehension  of  the  Social  Significance  of  His 
Work. — Never  can  any  line  of  work  develop  into  a 
profession  until  those  engaged  in  it  have  a  vital  realization 
of  its  social  significance,  until  they  place  the  service  they 
are  rendering  ahead  of  the  salary  they  receive.  This 
means  that  men  are  at  the  work  because  their  hearts  are 
in  the  cause ;  because  they  have  a  gripping  realization  of 
its  significance  in  social  and  human  welfare. 


244       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Public  education  is  to-day  presented  to  prospective 
workers  in  that  field  in  such  a  way  that  they  cannot  but 
sec  its  social  and  its  human  aspects.  And  these  workers 
are  continually  urged  to  consider  their  everyday  problems 
in  the  school  from  that  standpoint.  This  new  point  of 
view  is  affecting  all  phases  of  education.  It  is  leading 
to  the  continuation  school,  industrial  education,  part  time 
schools,  public  lectures,  mothers*  meetings,  social  center 
school  buildings,  school  nurses,  etc.  It  is  also  affecting 
the  content  of  the  studies.  They  too  are  being  socialized. 
This  is  all  resulting  because  those  in  this  phase  of  the 
public  service  are  thinking  in  a  broad  and  liberal  way  and 
in  social  terms. 

This,  of  course,  holds  true  in  some  other  branches  of 
government  work,  but  in  very  few  aside  from  public 
education  do  employees  come  into  the  work  with  a  vital 
realization  of  the  social  significance  of  that  work. 

Some  of  the  courses  actually  given  in  training  schools 
for  teachers  are : 

The  School  and  Society 
Social  Aspects  of  Education 
The  Social  Mind  and  Education 
The  School  and  Social  Efficiency 
The  School  and  Industrial  Education 
Moral  Principles  in  Education 
The  Boy  Problem 

The  man  working  in  the  public  school  system  knows  the 
history  of  the  movement  in  which  he  is  playing  a  part. 
He  sees  that  he  is  connected  with  a  thing  of  progress 
and  he  pictures  to  himself  the  possibilities  ahead.  He  sees 
how  conditions  and  changes  in  the  past  have  been  leading 
up  to  the  present  conditions,  and  how  in  turn  present 
conditions  are  only  indicative  of  changes  to  follow,  inter- 


TRAINING  TEACHERS  245 

mediate  steps  in  a  great  movement.  This  vision  is  doing 
much  to  develop  a  professional  spirit — a  realization  of 
the  social  significance  of  this  phase  of  public  service. 

There  are  many  excellent  books  appealingly  written 
that  bring  out  the  social  aspects  of  various  other  depart- 
ments of  government,  and  yet  how  few  of  our  state  and 
city  employees  come  into  the  service  fresh  from  the 
inspiration  of  such  studies!  The  proper  literature  is 
waiting  and  ready  to  be  used,  waiting  to  be  presented  by 
those  who  as  a  result  of  their  contact  with  the  actual 
possibilities  of  service  see  and  understand. 

The  work  of  the  public  servant  needs  to  be  socialized, 
to  be  humanized.  Then  will  the  service  rendered  be  the 
big  thing.  Then  will  a  real  professional  spirit  be  de- 
veloped. "We  must  convince  our  servants  in  that  more 
crystallized,  not  to  say  fossilized,  region  of  social  service 
called  public  service,  in  the  first  place,  that  it  is  not 
government  they  are  serving,  but  society ;  and  that  in  the 
end,  it  is  not  even  society  which  is  so  important  as  its 
individual  constituents — men  and  women."  In  most 
departments  of  government  it  is  difficult  to  convince 
employees  of  this  to  the  extent  that  they  will  actually 
feel  it.  Yet  this  must  be  done  and  the  right  kind  of 
training  for  public  service  will  do  much  to  bring  it  about. 

Summary 

However  many  defects  and  deficiencies  may  exist  in  the 
public  school  systems  of  our  country  one  cannot  but 
admit  that  great  strides  in  increased  efficiency  have  been 
taken  during  the  past  decade.  We  have  in  our  school 
system  men  and  women  who  because  of  their  training 
are  fit  to  cope  with  the  present-day  problems  of  education, 
men  and  women  who  have  had  a  specialized  training  and 


246       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

who  see  the  problems  of  education  in  their  broad  and 
far-reaching  aspects.  This  would  not  have  been  possible 
but  for  the  development  of  a  specialized  system  of  train- 
ing for  workers  in  this  field.  The  system  is  in  process  of 
development,  and  changes  are  constantly  being  made ;  but 
it  has,  however,  much  to  offer  in  the  line  of  suggestions 
pertinent  to  the  training  in  other  lines  of  public  service. 
What  then,  in  the  training  offered  to  those  preparing 
for  service  in  the  field  of  public  education  is  especially 
suggestive  for  the  other  fields  of  public  service  ? 

1.  There  are  training  schools  and  training  courses  pre- 
paring for  all  grades  of  positions  from  the  humblest  to  that 
of  city  superintendent. 

2.  The  training  itself  is  suggestive  in  its  completeness, 
for:— 

a — Expertness  is  developed  through  a  well- 
worked  out  system  of  specialized  instruction  and 
carefully  directed  study. 

b — The  gaining  of  experience  through  the  appli- 
cation of  methods  and  principles  before  entering 
upon  the  regular  duties  of  the  service  very  greatly 
raise  the  caliber  of  work  done  by  those  entering  the 
services,  eliminates  much  waste,  and  increases  ef- 
ficiency. 

c — In  these  schools  there  is  developed  a  keen  ap- 
preciation of  the  social  importance  and  human  sig- 
nificance of  the  work  upon  which  the  prospective 
public  servants  are  entering. 

Given  public  servants  with  specialized  and  definite 
knowledge,  ability  and  skill  in  its  application,  and  a  vital 
sense  of  its  social  values,  at  the  beginning  of  their  careers 
in  service,  and  we  are  on  the  road  to  raising  public 
service  to  an  honorable  and  efficient  profession. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
TRAINING  FOR  THE  MILITARY  SERVICE* 

GOVERNMENTS  have  always  trained  soldiers.  Thia 
is  no  less  true  of  the  United  States  than  of  other 
nations.  Institutional  training  of  officers  began  early. 
West  Point  was  estabUshed  in  1812.  AnnapoHs  was  es- 
tablished in  1845.  Volunteers  are  trained  in  the  army, 
and  the  continued  training  of  enlisted  men  and  officers 
has  always  been  a  function  of  the  army  organization.  It 
would  be  rather  surprising  if  this  experience  in  training 
men  for  the  military  service  over  so  long  a  period  would 
not  be  fruitful  of  lessons  for  training  for  the  civil  service. 
The  Panama  Canal  is  a  great  tribute  to  the  educational 
system  of  the  army.  It  is  a  great  tribute  to  the  capacity 
of  the  national  government  to  organize  training  for  its 
own  service.  The  army  is  not  merely  a  great  machine 
of  destruction.  It  is  a  great  constructive  force,  notably 
in  our  national  public  works.^  It  is  certainly  a  great 
educational  organization. 


at 


*This  paper  was  printed  in  part  in  The  Public  Servant,  Sep- 
tember,   1916. 

*But  not  entirely  so,  let  us  add  in  this  footnote.  That  the 
army  engineers  are,  in  connection  with  rivers  and  harbors  im- 
provement, subjected  to  tremendous  political  pressure  and  that 
they  have  succumbed  frequently  to  this  pressure  any  student  of 
"pork"  knows.  A  national  waterway  commission  would  help 
the  situation  greatly.    So  much  for  an  aside. 

247 


248       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

In  the  army,  in  the  navy  and  in  the  Public  Health 
Service  the  nation  has  clearly  shown  the  great  funda- 
mental need  for  training  for  public  service  and  its  own 
capacity  to  organize  and  develop  it.  Even  admitting  the 
esprit  de  corps  of  the  army  and  the  influence  of  a  number 
of  permanent  officials,  it  must  strike  the  thinking  mind 
with  something  like  a  shock  to  note  practically  no  organ- 
ized preparation  and  training  for  the  civil  service  in 
contrast  to  the  elaborate  organization  for  the  military 
service.  However,  we  must  accept  that  fact.  Let  us 
see  now  what  the  principles  underlying  the  army  system 
are  which  contribute  to  its  success.  The  question  may 
then  be  raised  by  the  reader  as  to  the  applicability  of 
these  principles  to  training  for  the  civil  service. 

The  Educational  System  of  the  Army. — "There  has 
been  built  up  in  the  army,"  says  General  Wotherspoon, 
"an  educational  system  directed  to  that  end  that  exceeds 
in  completeness  any  other  educational  system  in  the 
country.  Professional  training  in  the  army,  unlike  in 
some  professions,  does  not  cease  when  an  officer  has  won 
his  commission ;  it  goes  on  through  all  his  career."  And 
this  statement  is  warranted  by  the  facts,  as  will  be  shown 
in  the  sequel.  This  system  may  by  way  of  introduction 
be  outlined  in  skeleton  form: 

1.  The  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  for  the  educa- 
tion of  cadets.     (4  years.) 

2.  Post  schools  for  the  instruction  of  enlisted  men.  (Va- 
rious periods.) 

3.  Garrison  schools  for  the  instruction  of  officers  in  sub- 
jects pertaining  to  the  performance  of  their  ordinary  duties, 
(i  year,  preliminary,  and  3  years  in  garrison  school.) 

4.  The  Army  Service  Schools  at  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kan- 
sas: 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  MILITARY  SERVICE    249 

(a)  The  Army  School  of  the  Line  (basic  school — 

I  year). 

(b)  The  Army  Staff  College  (i  year). 

(c)  The  Army  Signal  School  (i  year). 

(d)  The  Army  Field  Engineer  School   (i  year). 

(e)  The  Army  Field  Service  and  Correspondence 

School  for  Medical  Officers  (i  year 
and  six  weeks). 

5.     The  Special  Service  Schools: 

(a)  The  Engineer  School,  Washington  Barracks, 

D.  C.  (18  months). 

(b)  The  Coast  Artillery  School,  Fort  Monroe,  Va. 

(Officers    2    years,    enlisted    men   3 
years). 

(c)  The    Mounted    Service    School,    Fort    Riley, 

Kansas. 

a.  School  for  Field  Officers  (Apr.  i-June 

15)- 

b.  School    for    Company    Officers    (Sept. 

25- June  30). 
c    School  for  Farriers  and  Horeshoers  (2 

courses,  four  months  each,  Feb.  15- 

June  15,  and  July  15-Nov.  15). 
d.     School     for     Bakers     and    Cooks     (4 

months). 

(d)  The  Army  Medical  School,  Washington,  D.  C. 

(i  year). 
(c)     The  School  of  Fire  for  Field  Artillery,  Fort 
Sill,  Okla. 

(f )  The  School  of  Musketry,  Fort  Sill,  Okla. 

(g)  The    Signal    Corps    Aviation    School,    San 

Diego,  Cal. 
(h)     The  Schools  for  Bakers  and  Cooks,  Washing- 
ton Barracks,  D.  C,  and  Presidio  of 
San  Francisco  (4  months). 


250       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

(i)  The  Training  School  for  Saddlers  and  for 
Battery  Mechanics  of  Field  Artil- 
lery, Rock  Island  Arsenal,  111.  (ii 
months). 
(j)  The  School  of  Instruction  for  Enlisted  Men  of 
the  Regular  Army  selected  for  de- 
tail for  duty  with  the  Organized 
Militia  (7  weeks  beginning  July  i). 

6.  The  Army  War  College,  Washington,  D.  C.  (Perma- 
nent; temporary,  i  year.) 

7.  The  Schools  of  Instruction  for  College  Students   (5 
weeks — summer) . 

8.  The  military  departments  of  civil  institutions  at  which 
officers  of  the  Army  are  detailed  under  the  provisions  of  law. 

Practical  Training  and  Theoretical  Instruction. — 

Fundamental  in  this  educational  system,  whether  it  be 
in  the  preparatory  training  at  West  Point  or  in  the  con- 
tinuous training  in  the  service  of  officers,  or  whether  it 
be  of  enlisted  men  in  the  post  schools,  or  in  the  specialized 
schools  for  cooks,  electricians,  farriers  or  other  supple- 
mentary services  needed  by  the  army,  practical  training 
runs  along  with  theoretical  instruction.  At  West  Point, 
for  example,  in  the  Department  of  Military  Hygiene  this 
coordination  of  theory  and  practice  may  be  illustrated 
in  the  practice  that  on  marches  at  the  end  of  each  day, 
the  medical  officer  discusses  practical  matters  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  military  sanitarian.  In  the  depart- 
ment of  practical  miHtary  engineering,  "during  the 
spring  period  this  class  (the  second)  is  instructed  in  the 
field  methods  of  electrical  communication  and  is  given 
practice  in  establishing  and  using  buzzer  lines  under,  as 
nearly  as  possible,  service  conditions.  This  course  also 
comprises  setting  up  and  operating  field  wireless  telegraph 
outfits."     This  actual  work  is  supplemented  by  trips  of 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  MILITARY  SERVICE    251 

inspection.  During  the  first  year  of  the  courses  in  ord- 
nance and  gunnery,  "visits  are  made  to  Watervliet 
Arsenal,  where  the  processes  of  gun  construction  are 
observed,  and  to  the  Ordnance  Proving  Ground  at  Sandy 
Hook,  where  actual  firings  from  the  several  classes  of 
guns  are  observed,  including  usually  one  or  more  shots 
against  armor,  and  where  the  latest  developments  in  war 
material  are  seen." 

This  same  class  in  the  department  of  Civil  and  Military 
Engineering  is  taken  to  the  field  of  Gettysburg  to  famili- 
arize it  with  effects  of  topography  on  the  employment 
of  troops  in  the  field.  Even  vacations  are  utilized  for 
practical  training.  "Academic  duties  are  suspended  from 
the  completion  of  the  June  examinations  until  the  end  of 
August.  During  this  period  cadets  live  in  camp  and  are 
engaged  in  military  duties  and  exercises  and  in  receiving 
practical  instruction  in  military  and  other  subjects."  All 
professional  education  might  well  profit  by  a  careful 
study  of  this  organized  coordination  of  theory  and 
practice. 

A  corollary  of  the  foregoing  is  the  fact  that  the  whole 
life  of  the  student  is  an  organised  professional  training. 
The  academy  accepts  at  its  face  value  the  wisdom  of  the 
proverb  that  "Life  is  the  best  teacher."  There  is  no  dis- 
tinction between  learning  and  living.  We  learn  through 
living.  The  army  is  the  best  illustration  in  any  phase 
of  the  American  educational  system,  not  excluding  the 
kindergarten,  of  the  organization  of  this  principle  into  an 
effective  educational  instrument. 

Continuous  Training  of  Men  in  Service. — There  is 
no  place  in  the  army  where  the  educational  process  ends. 
After  four  years  of  combined  theoretical  and  practical 
instruction  at  West  Point,  the  young  officer  has  immedi- 


252       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

ately  ahead  of  him  at  least  six  years  of  post-graduate 
work.  During  the  first  years  of  commissioned  service 
the  officers  of  all  branches  except  the  Corps  of  Engineers 
are  required  to  pursue  a  preliminary  course  of  instruction 
before  entering  the  garrison  schools.  "All  officers  of  the 
line  of  the  Army  below  the  grade  of  colonel,  but  actually 
engaged  as  instructors  or  student  officers  in  the  garrison 
school  course,  will  participate  in  the  post-graduate  work." 
Officers  of  the  Organized  Militia  are  permitted  to  attend 
garrison  schools  on  certain  conditions. 

Three  years  are  spent  in  the  garrison  schools.  Then 
follow  two  years  in  the  army  service  schools,  one  in  the 
basic  school,  the  Army  School  of  the  Line,  and  the  other 
in  one  of  the  affiliated  schools,  the  Army  Staff  College, 
the  Army  Signal  School,  the  Army  Field  Engineering 
School,  or  the  Army  Field  Service  and  Correspondence 
School  for  Medical  Officers.  Certain  officers  not  below 
the  grade  of  captain  are  detailed  to  the  Army  War 
College  for  a  year. 

For  all  kinds  of  work,  too,  the  army  has  special  service 
schools.  It  has  schools  for  the  coast  artillery  service,  the 
mounted  service,  medical  service,  the  field  artillery 
service.  It  has  a  school  of  musketry  and  the  signal  corps 
aviation  school.  It  has  schools  for  bakers  and  cooks, 
saddlers  and  mechanics. 

Developing  the  "Reserve  of  Ability." — Captain 
McArthur  of  the  General  Staff  says,  "No  country  in  the 
world  has  as  complete  a  system  of  professional  scholastic 
training  for  its  (army)  officers  as  the  United  States." 
Then  follows  a  rather  striking  statement  of  the  reason 
for  it.  This  reason  has  great  significance  in  training  for 
the  military  service. 

"European  armies  do  not  have  this  training  because 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  MILITARY  SERVICE     253 

the  army  is  practically  always  on  war  footing  and  each 
officer  is  located  in  his  niche.  He  must  be  able  to  render 
his  service  in  the  place  in  which  he  is  then  located.  The 
declaration  of  war  will  not  affect  his  position  or  his  pro- 
motion except  as  the  result  of  fatalities.  The  training, 
therefore,  he  needs  is  the  narrow  definitized  training  as 
colonel,  as  lieutenant,  as  captain,  whatever  his  rank  is. 
The  army  is  a  vast  machine  in  which  it  is  important  that 
each  part  shall  serve  its  specific  purpose  and  be  coordi- 
nated with  the  rest.  The  education,  therefore,  is  very 
elementary  and  very  mechanical.  A  perfect  machine  will 
best  serve  the  purposes  of  the  highly  trained  staif." 

The  regular  army  of  the  United  States  is  small,  i.  e.,  it 
is  not  on  a  war  footing.  The  regular  army  must  be  the 
organizing  and  disciplining  agency  in  making  the  volun- 
teers in  war-time  into  an  army.  The  specific  duties  that 
may  be  assigned  to  a  particular  officer  are  defined  only 
by  the  whole  extent  of  services  to  be  performed.  A 
mechanically  perfect  lieutenant  is  useless.  We  cannot 
afford  to  train  merely  lieutenants,  colonels,  and  captains. 
We  must  train  a  man-in-arms  capable  of  serving  wherever 
the  need  is  greatest.  Or  as  Captain  McArthur  puts  it: 
"But  the  system  must  he  such  as  to  educate  our  officers 
so  that  they  will  he  ahle  at  a  moment's  notice,  when  the 
war  expansion  comes,  to  perform  the  duties  of  far- 
advanced  grades  and  to  render  service  in  hranches  of  the 
Army,  hoth  line  and  staff,  in  which  they  are  not  commis- 
sioned in  time  of  peace.  For  this  reason  we  have 
established  a  progressive  system  of  schools  designed  to 
teach  officers  and  men,  limited  only  by  their  individual 
capacities  for  its  assimilation,  the  duty  of  the  man-in- 
arms in  all  grades  from  lowest  to  highest." 

When  the  universities  earnestly  set  to  work  to  train 


f.v/V 


254       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

men  for  public  service,  so  far  as  aim  is  concerned,  this 
point  is  of  tremendously  vital  significance. 

Training  in  Administration  Combined  With  Train- 
ing in  Technique. — Worthy  of  special  note  in  connec- 
tion with  the  last  point  is  this  fact,  that  besides  the  tech- 
nical training  given,  there  runs  along  with  it  specific 
training  in  organization  and  administration.  As  to 
method  this  is  probably  the  best  way  to  secure  a  mobile 
body  of  officers.  In  the  Army  School  of  the  Line,  for 
example,  the  first  thing  noted  under  ''Military  Art"  is : 

(a)  Troops  in  campaign — Organization,  field  orders, 
marches,  camps,  supply,  and  the  care  of  troops  in  the 
field.  Instruction  in  sanitation,  and  the  care  of  troops  to 
be  given  by  the  Army  Field  Service  and  Correspondence 
School  for  Medical  Officers,  Instruction  by  conferences, 
lectures,  and  practical  problems. 

The  Army  StaflF  College  aims  to  train  selected  gradu- 
ates of  the  School  of  the  Line  for  the  more  important 
staff  duties  with  large  commands  in  time  of  war.  In  the 
Staff  College  under  "Military  Art"  three  things  may  be 
noted  : 

(a)  Staff  duties — To  include  duties  of  the  General 
Staff,  supply  and  administration.  Instruction  by  lectures 
and  conferences  and  practical  problems. 

(b)  Practical  demonstration  of  the  uses  of  all  means 
afforded  by  the  Signal  Corps  for  gaining  information  and 
furnishing  lines  of  information  in  the  theater  of  opera- 
tions, including  balloons,  wireless  and  ordinary  telegraph, 
telephones,  etc.,  in  conjunction  with  field  exercise. 

(e)  Care  of  troops — Instruction  in  the  care  of  troops 
is  given  by  the  Army  Field  Service  and  Correspondence 
School  for  Medical  Officers. 

The  purpose  of  the  School  of  Musketry  is  to  teach 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  MILITARY  SERVICE    255 

officers  of  the  mobile  Army  how  to  handle  the  fire  of  their 
commands  so  as  to  obtain  the  maximum  effect.  The 
methods  of  instituting  a  satisfactory  system  of  fire  dis- 
cipline and  control  are  taught  as  well  as  the  development 
of  firing  tactics  for  the  infantry  arm  of  the  service. 
Original  research  work  and  practical  application  of  tac- 
tical principles  and  their  coordination  are  also  included. 

Developing  Research  and  the  Spirit  of  Experimenta- 
tion.— With  the  problem-method  of  teaching  and  the 
field  training  which  characterizes  the  work  throughout, 
the  spirit  of  inquiry,  of  curiosity,  of  research,  must  be 
continuously  stimulated.  Definite  provision  is  made  for 
original  research  in  the  School  of  Musketry. 

Part  of  the  object  of  the  Signal  Corps  Aviation  School 
is  "to  develop  by  experimental  research  practical  aero- 
nautics as  applied  to  military  problems."  The  War  Col- 
lege is,  in  part,  a  kind  of  research  organization  for  the 
whole  military  organization,  promoting  the  advanced 
study  of  military  subjects. 

Graduating  into  the  Service. — Other  points  could  be 
made,  such  as  the  care  in  the  selecting  of  men  for  training 
at  West  Point,  the  valuable  by-products  for  civil  life 
secured  by  training  in  the  army  schools.  We  do  want 
to  make  one  other  point.  After  the  training  at  West 
Point,  a  position  is  practically  assured.  By  act  of  Con- 
gress it  is  provided  "That  when  any  cadet  of  the  United 
States  Military  Academy  has  gone  through  all  its  classes 
and  received  a  regular  diploma  from  the  academic  staff, 
he  may  be  promoted  and  commissioned  as  a  second 
lieutenant  in  any  arm  or  corps  of  the  Army  in  which 
there  may  be  a  vacancy  and  the  duties  of  which  he  may 
have  been  judged  competent  to  perform,  and  in  case  there 


256        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

shall  not  at  any  time  be  a  vacancy  in  such  arm  or  corps, 
he  may,  at  the  discretion  of  the  President,  be  promoted 
and  commissioned  in  it  as  an  additional  second  lieutenant, 
with  the  usual  pay  and  allowances  of  a  second  lieutenant, 
until  a  vacancy  shall  happen." 

Summary. — By  way  of  summary  and  by  way  of  suggest- 
ing the  applications  of  these  principles  underlying  training 
for  the  military  service  to  the  civil  service,  a  series  of  ques- 
tions may  be  formulated.  For  the  citizen  at  least  three  ques- 
tions may  be  asked: 

Shall  we  provide  training  for  the  civil  service  similar  to 

the  training  for  the  military  service? 
Shall  we  have  a  civil  West  Point?    A  civil  Annapolis? 
Shall  we  provide  for  continuous  training  of  the  men  in 

the  civil  service? 

For  the  public  administrator  and  the  civil  service  com- 
mission, and  for  the  university  or  university  officer  charged 
with  training  men  for  the  public  service  or  of  training  men 
in  the  public  service,  these  questions  may  be  formulated: 

Shall  we  in  training  men  for  the  public  service 

1.  Combine    supervised    practical    training    with    co- 

ordinated theoretical  instruction? 

2.  Combine  training  in  administration  with  training  in 

technic? 

3.  Develop  the  "reserve  of  ability"? 

4.  Develop   research   and  the   spirit  of   experimenta- 

tion? 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  METHOD   OF  TRAINING— COOPERATIVE,   PART- 
TIME 

PART-TIME  training  has  been  variously  referred  to  as 
"the  laboratory  method,"  "practical  training,"  "learn- 
ing by  doing,''  "cooperative  training,"  "field  work," 
etc.  The  value  of  practical  application  of  theoretical 
knowledge  is  obvious  to  the  layman  as  well  as  to  the 
teacher,  but  the  possibilities  of  the  word  "practical"  are 
by  no  means  exhausted  in  college  laboratories  of  chemis- 
try, engineering  and  biology.  A  wish  for  more  intimate 
and  vital  relations  with  life's  activities  has  turned  whole 
cities  and  states  into  laboratories  of  training  and  research 
for  the  college  student — he  is  taught  to  know  life  by 
actually  living  it. 

Not  a  New  Educational  Development. — It  is  an 
error  to  regard  this  part-time  principle  as  a  new  educa- 
tional development.  It  has  long  formed  the  basis  for 
Germany's  continuation  schools  and  is  a  standard  method 
of  procedure  in  medicine  under  the  name  of  hospital 
experience,  and  in  normal  training  under  the  name  of 
practice  teaching.  Dean  Schneider,  of  the  University  of 
Cincinnati,  extended  the  use  of  the  same  principle  a  few 
years  ago  to  engineering,  and  a  few  farseeing  educators, 
notably  Professor  Jenks  of  New  York  University,  Dean 

257 


258       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Ayer  of  the  University  of  Akron  and  Mr.  F.  C.  Schwedt- 
mann  of  the  National  City  Bank  of  New  York  are  just 
now  beginning  to  prove  its  value  in  business  training.^ 

Theoretically,  it  is  sound  educational  method  to  apply 
school-learned  theory  to  practical  uses  during  the 
course  of  training  rather  than  after  its  conclusion.  Prac- 
tically, the  processes  involved  in  accomplishing  this  end 
are  by  no  means  simple,  and  require  careful  supervision 
and  coordination  by  alert  and  experienced  instructors. 
Laboratory  work  in  an  activity  of  real  Hfe  means  that  the 
mind  of  the  student  is  constantly  in  touch  with  the 
newest  developments  of  his  subject  and  the  teacher  dare 
not  lag  behind.  There  is,  too,  a  practical  difficulty  in 
coordinating  outside  work  with  the  prescribed  course  of 
study ;  the  routine  of  the  outside  activity  cannot  be  dis- 
arranged for  the  sake  of  the  student,  and  the  result  is 
that  in  most  part-time  training  schemes  educational  prec- 
edent has  had  to  give  way  to  the  necessity  of  molding 
a  course  to  fit  extra-curricular  conditions.  This  has 
caused  acute  discomfort  to  many  a  teacher  to  whom  tradi- 
tional methods  were  sacred,  and  has  brought  about  much 
criticism  of  the  various  kinds  of  part-time  training.  In 
spite  of  these  difficulties,  however,  the  part-time  system 
is  becoming  more  and  more  firmly  fixed  as  a  recognized 
method  of  education,  although  the  technic  of  its  applica- 
tion is  still  largely  unstandardized. 

The  public  service,  i.e.,  the  service  of  city,  state  or 
nation  in  official  position,  is  now  generally  recognized  as 
a  most  promising  field  for  the  extension  of  part-time 

*  Special  mention  should  also  be  made  of  New  York  City's 
extensive  and  successful  activities  in  cooperative  business  train- 
ing for  High  School  students  under  the  general  direction  of 
Dean  Schneider  and  the  direct  supervision  of  the  late  Dr.  John 
H.  Haaren,  Associate  City  Superintendent  of  Schools. 


THE  METHOD  OF  TRAINING  259 

training.  The  one  factor  which  has  done  most  to  render 
this  possible  is  the  growing  activity  of  various  states  and 
cities  in  classifying  their  civil  service,  thereby  not  only 
assuring  permanent  tenure  of  office  based  on  merit,  but 
also  defining  more  closely  for  training  schools,  colleges 
and  universities  those  subjects  in  which  part-time  students 
may  receive  training. 

Part-time  Training  for  Public  Service  in  Universi- 
ties.— In  its  broadest  sense  the  term  "part-time  train- 
ing in  public  service"  applies  to  the  system  by  which 
regularly  employed  public  servants  receive  instruction 
outside  of  office  hours,  as  well  as  to  that  by  which 
students  work  in  class  room  and  pubhc  office  under  a 
regular  alternation  plan  or  by  special  assignment  to  the 
latter.  Strictly  speaking,  though,  the  principles  involved 
in  the  two  systems  are  quite  different,  but  the  term  "part- 
time  training  in  public  service"  will,  in  this  chapter,  be 
limited  to  the  latter  application,  i.e.,  with  the  student  as 
the  basis.  It  must  be  admitted  at  the  outset  that  the 
record  of  actual  accomplishment  is  as  yet  a  short  one, 
while  great  possibilities  remain  to  be  realized.  Public 
service  makes  requirements  upon  nearly  every  depart- 
ment of  human  knowledge,  and  the  part-time  systems  at 
present  in  use  in  engineering,  sociology,  economics, 
and  medicine,  are  often  used  directly  for  the  purpose 
of  such  training,  as,  for  example,  the  employment  of 
cooperative  engineering  students  in  city  work  at  Cincin- 
nati and  Akron.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  growing 
tendency  exhibited  by  many  urban  institutions  to  put 
their  students  into  the  laboratory  of  real  Hfe  has  already 
brought  about  informally  numerous  opportunities  for 
training  in  various  branches  of  public  service,  but  up  to 
the  present  time  no  school  has  been  established  with  the 


26o       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

distinct  end  in  view  of  training  for  all  kinds  of  public 
service.  Such  a  school  would  necessarily  rival  the 
university  in  its  scope  and  would  require  not  only  the 
presence  of  a  great  city  for  the  application  of  part-time 
methods  but  also  the  income  of  a  great  endowment  for 
its  support. 2  The  part-time  method  is  as  yet  merely  an 
incidental  tool  in  the  educational  world;  but  the  time 
fie  ems  not  far  distant  when  it  may  be  elevated  to  the 
position  of  cardinal  principle  in  the  great  University  of 
Public  Service  to  be. 

The  Movement  for  Training  for  Public  Service. — 

General  interest  in  the  part-time  plan  as  the  logical 
method  for  training  public  servants  seems  to  have  been 
first  aroused  by  the  activities  of  the  American  Political 
Science  Association,  whose  Committee  on  Practical 
Training  for  Public  Service  issued  their  epoch-making 
"Preliminary  Report"  in  the  Association's  Proceedings 
for  1913.^  As  stated  in  this  report  the  Committee  was 
appointed  "i,  to  examine  and  make  a  list  of  places  where 
laboratory  work  for  graduate  students  in  political  science 
can  be  done ;  2,  to  recommend  to  the  various  college  and 
university  faculties  that  due  graduate  credit  be  given  to 
such  place ;  3,  to  use  its  best  endeavors  to  obtain  scholar- 
ships for  this  laboratory  work,  and  to  secure  an  endow- 
ment for  the  building  up  of  a  trained  body  of  public 
servants;  and  4,  to  make,  if  possible,  a  system  of  card 
records  and  efficiency  standards  for  graduates  doing 
practical  work  in  political  science." 

Through  the  efforts  of  Dr.  Edward  A.  Fitzpatrick, 

*Cf.  the  "Proposed  Plan  for  Training  Schools  for  Public 
Service"  submitted  by  the  Committee  on  Practical  Training  for 
Public  Service  of  the  American  Political  Science  Association. 

'  Reprinted  in  pamphlet  form,  1914. 


THE  METHOD  OF  TRAINING  261 

Executive  Secretary  of  the  Committee,  there  was  called 
in  New  York  in  May,  1914,  a  National  Conference  on 
Universities  and  Public  Service,  whose  Proceedings, 
edited  by  Dr.  Fitzpatrick,  form  a  valuable  contribution 
to  the  literature  on  part-time  training.  As  a  direct  result 
there  was  formed  the  Society  for  the  Promotion  of 
Training  for  Public  Service,  whose  Boston  meeting  in 
191 5  and  Philadelphia  meeting  in  19 16  have  carried  on 
the  work  of  the  New  York  Conference.  It  is  noteworthy 
that  much  of  the  incentive  toward  the  adoption  of  part- 
time  training  as  a  standard  method  has  come  from 
professors  of  political  science.*  This  is  doubtless  due  to 
the  particular  applicability  of  the  principle  to  the  work 
of  this  department  and  also  to  the  indisputable  fact  that 
public  service  training  for  any  kind  of  activity  should 
be  built  on  a  thorough  study  of  political  science. 

Field  Work — Its  Meaning  and  Its  Scope. — A  some- 
what broader  field  has  been  undertaken  by  the  investiga- 
tions of  the  Committee  on  Field  Work,  appointed  in  191 5 
by  the  American  Association  of  Urban  Universities.^ 
This  Committee  defines  field  work®  as  including  ''the 
activities  of  students  in  the  performance  of  tasks  of 
everyday  life  under  actual  conditions  which  may  be  ac- 

*  Others  working  through  professors  of  political  science  are 
largely  responsible   for  the  development. — Editor. 

'Founded  at  Washington  in  1914  for  the  purpose  of  studying 
"the  relations  of  civic  universities  to  their  local  institutions  and 
communities."  The  report  of  the  organization  meeting  appears 
as  Bulletin,  1915,  No.  38,  of  the  Bureau  of  Education  at  Wash- 
ington. The  proceedings  of  the  second  annual  meeting  (Cin- 
cinnati, 1915),  also  issued  by  the  Bureau,  contains  a  valuable 
bibliography  by  Mr.  H.  A.  Rider  of  the  Library  of  Research 
in  Government  of  Western  Reserve  University  (Bulletin). 

'The  following  quotations  are  from  a  detailed  questionnaire 
issued  by  the   Committee,   May,    1916. 


262       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

cepted  as  directly  related  to  concurrent  class  work."  As 
examples  are  mention-ed :  *'Work  by  students  of  the  social 
sciences  in  philanthropic  agencies,  surveys  of  economic, 
industrial,  educational  and  hygienic  conditions,  practice 
teaching,  research  assignments  in  current  political  and 
administrative  problems,  etc."  It  is  the  purpose  of 
the  Committee  to  report  to  the  Association  of  Urban 
Universities  on  various  methods  at  present  in  use  in  the 
conduct  of  field  work  and  to  recommend  certain  standards 
and  methods,  based  on  the  result  of  this  inquiry. 

The  great  centers  for  field  work  to-day  are  naturally 
in  the  larger  cities.  Without  question  New  York  offers 
opportunities  for  more  kinds  of  part-time  training  than 
any  other  center  of  population.  To  indicate  the  extent 
of  the  possibilities  there  it  is  only  necessary  to  mention 
such  institutions  as  Columbia  University,  with  its 
Teachers  College,  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
New  York  University,  the  Training  School  of  the  New 
York  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  the  Institute  for 
Public  Service,  the  New  York  School  of  Philanthropy, 
the  National  City  Bank — all  of  these  and  many  others 
are  definitely  committed  to  the  part-time  principle  as  an 
educational  method  in  certain  adaptable  subjects.  Al- 
though part-time  training  possibly  owes  its  present 
development  more  to  training  schools  with  no  direct 
academic  affiliations  than  to  the  colleges  and  universities 
themselves,  yet  such  training  schools  would  be  impossible 
without  the  aid  of  academically  trained  men  and  women ; 
hence  the  universities  may  perhaps  be  looked  upon  as 
the  natural  seats  of  future  activity. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  review  in  brief  space  all 
the  various  applications  of  the  part-time  principle  now 
in  use.  There  are,  in  the  departments  of  economics  and 
sociology  alone,  almost  innumerable  variations.     In  fact 


THE  METHOD  OF  TRAINING  263 

these  two  subjects  at  present  occupy  the  center  of  the 
stage  of  public  interest.  While  medicine,  pedagogy  and 
engineering  have  evolved  definite  disciplines  and  a  fairly 
well  established  technic  in  field  work,  other  subjects 
leave  much  to  be  desired  in  the  standardization  of 
methods.  Only  a  few  interesting  examples  of  the  applica- 
tion of  the  part-time  system  to  training  for  public  service 
in  colleges  and  universities  can  be  mentioned  here,  but 
these  may  be  considered  as  fairly  typical  of  numerous 
other  attempts.'^ 

Some  Illustrations  of  Field  Work. — Training  in 
business  subjects,  while  nowhere  directly  shaped  for  the 
official  public  service,  is  naturally  an  invaluable  aid  and 
preparation  for  most  public  officials.  The  part-time 
system  has  been  adopted  by  Boston  University  in  its 
College  of  Business  Administration,  students  of  the  senior 
year  being  assigned  by  the  faculty  to  regular  employment 
in  business  houses.  For  this  work  a  maximum  of  one- 
sixth  of  the  full  degree  credit  requirement  is  allowed. 
At  the  University  of  Akron  a  course  in  business  adminis- 
tration has  just  been  inaugurated  with  regular  two  week 
alternation  periods  for  the  students  in  college  and  office. 
The  course  is  patterned  on  the  cooperative  engineering 
course  and  is  under  the  supervision  of  the  Engineering 
College. 

Considerable  progress  has  been  made  in  applying  the 
part-time  principle  to  the  training  of  public  health  officers. 
For  example,  the  School  for  Health  Officers  conducted 
jointly  by  Harvard  University  and  the  Massachusetts 

'An  interesting  summary  of  the  "Progress  of  the  Movement 
for  Training  for  Public  Service"  is  to  be  found  in  the  second 
number  of  The  Public  Servant,  the  official  organ  of  the  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Training  for  Public  Service. 


264        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Institute  of  Technology  offers  as  field  work  in  its  course 
in  Sanitation  the  actual  problem  of  making  a  sanitary 
survey  of  a  small  city  or  town.  The  College  of  the  City 
of  New  York  requires  considerable  field  work  in  its 
course  in  Municipal  Sanitary  Inspection  and  the  Labora- 
tory of  Hygiene  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  puts 
its  students  in  Public  Hygiene  into  the  routine  activities 
of  the  Municipal  Health  Department.  A  kindred  sub- 
ject is  touched  by  the  field  work  of  the  Psychological 
Laboratory  and  Clinic  of  the  same  institution  whose 
students  in  the  course  called  Clinical  Field  Work  are 
active  in  office  work,  visits  to  homes,  schools,  dispensaries, 
social  agencies,  and  institutions. 

It  would  be  hopeless  to  attempt  completeness  even  in 
an  outline  of  the  part-time  work  done  in  economics, 
political  science,  government  and  kindred  branches.  A 
few  types  must  suffice:  The  University  of  Cincinnati 
through  the  Municipal  Reference  Bureau,  which  it  con- 
trols, is  in  excellent  position  to  place  its  students  in 
Municipal  Government  into  various  city  departments  for 
field  work  in  skilled  non-technical  positions,  as  in  the 
Employment  Bureau,  Department  of  Public  Welfare, 
Board  of  Health,  etc.  The  University  of  Indiana  sends 
its  students  to  serve  with  the  State  Bureau  of  Legislative 
Information  and  reports  that  there  is  more  work  to  be 
done  than  students  to  do  the  work  satisfactorily.  The 
University  of  Minnesota  offers  a  course  in  practice  in 
the  Law  School  with  field  work  in  the  Bureau  of  Legal 
Aid,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Associated  Charities. 
This  so  called  "Legal  Clinic"  presents  some  3000  cases 
annually  for  practice  work  by  students.  The  University 
of  Nebraska  reports  that  the  results  of  student  field  work 
in  its  course  in  Practical  Legislation  are  "often  used  by 
the  State  Legislature  and  officers  of  administration  as 


THE-  METHOD  OF  TRAINING  265 

guides  in  practical  problems" — a  most  encouraging  index 
of  the  value  of  field  work. 

The  Department  of  Botany  at  the  University  of  Cin- 
cinnati has  applied  the  part-time  principle  to  instruction 
in  a  course  for  teachers  of  school  gardening.  Practical 
work  is  given  in  "the  actual  teaching  charge  of  children's 
gardens." 

The  social  sciences  offer  innumerable  opportunities  for 
part-time  training  and  nearly  all  urban  institutions  are 
now  cultivating  this  field  industriously  by  some  form  of 
cooperative  activity  with  local  agencies.  Such  connec- 
tions run  the  entire  gamut  from  mere  visits  of  investiga- 
tion by  students  to  the  actual  support  and  conduct  of  a 
settlement  house  as  at  the  University  of  Syracuse  and 
a  few  other  institutions.  Professor  James  Ford  of  the 
Department  of  Social  Ethics  at  Harvard  believes  that 
field  work  is  possible  in  every  one  of  the  courses  of  that 
department  and  mentions  as  specific  activities :  the  study 
of  labor  conditions  and  industrial  opportunities,  leader- 
ship of  boys'  clubs,  settlement  houses,  and  social  centers, 
various  social  surveys  in  cities,  rural  social  surveys, 
activities  in  charity  organization,  etc. 

The  comparatively  new  study  of  Household  Economics 
has  found  the  part-time  principle  invaluable  in  training 
its  students.  Cincinnati  has  cooperated  with  many  civic 
organizations  in  surveys  of  stores  and  markets,  work  as 
visiting  housekeepers,  assistant  dietitians  in  hospitals  and 
factories,  institutional  management  and  practice  teaching 
in  the  public  schools.  Teachers  College  in  New  York 
has  employed  students  in  such  part-time  activities  as 
public  health  investigation,  nursing  work  in  public  schools 
and  settlements  and  institutional  administration  in  public 
school  lunch  rooms.  Similar  work  is  carried  on  at 
Drexel  Institute,  Philadelphia,  and  elsewhere. 


266   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

The  Library  School  of  the  University  of  Illinois  may 
serve  to  illustrate  part-time  training  in  this  branch.  Here 
all  seniors  are  assigned  to  field  work  in  university  and 
public  libraries,  reference  libraries  and  with  library  com- 
missions. The  student  leaves  Urbana  and  spends  all  his 
working  time  for  one  month  in  the  assigned  library. 

Part-time  work  in  engineering  schools  has  been  already 
so  often  treated  as  to  render  further  description  unneces- 
sary. A  few  colleges  are  operating  courses  on  the  regular 
periodic  alternation  plan,  notably  Cincinnati,  Akron,  the 
Georgia  School  of  Technology  and  the  Throop  School  of 
Technology,  Pasadena,  California.  Many  others  are  re- 
quiring practical  work  during  the  summer  vacations.  In 
the  municipal  universities,  particularly,  this  system  is 
used  to  acquaint  students  with  the  routine  of  such  city 
offices  as  require  engineering  practice,  as,  for  example, 
surveying,  pavement  and  bridge  construction,  etc. 

All  of  the  part-time  activities  above  mentioned  are 
simply  types  from  various  great  branches  or  departments 
of  learning  to  which  this  kind  of  education  is  applicable. 

Conclusion. — Actually  it  is  in  most  cases  not  re- 
garded by  those  in  charge  as  formal  training  for  public 
service.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  though,  all  training  of 
this  nature  constitutes  excellent  practical  preparation  for 
the  citizen-to-be  as  well  as  for  the  *public-official-to-be, 
and  the  direct  contact  which  it  affords  with  real  life  must 
gradually  begin  to  have  a  deep  effect  on  our  citizenship. 
The  problem  of  him  who  desires  to  establish  a  University 
School  for  Public  Service  Training  will  not  be  to  devise 
new  methods  and  applications  of  education,  but  to 
coordinate  and  to  apply  to  his  purpose  the  forces  and 
tendencies  which  the  last  decade  has  brought  into  exist- 
ence. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  CITY  OFFICE  AS  A  TRAINING  CENTER  FOR 
PUBLIC  EMPLOYMENT 

WHERE  do  city  officials  and  employees  now  get  their 
training  if  not  in  the  city  office  ? 

This  query  is  fundamental  to  any  analysis  as  to  the 
extent  to  which  the  city  office  can  profitably  be  used  as  a 
training  center  for  the  municipal  servant. 

The  only  preparation  for  municipal  service  that  most 
city  employees  have  had  until  recently,  at  least,  has  been 
as  varied  as  that  afforded  by  the  private  industries  or 
partisan  circles  from  which  those  employees  have  mainly 
come.  For  their  only  preparation  as  a  rule  has  been  the 
training  for  private  enterprise  or  as  "workers"  for  po- 
litical parties. 

City  Offices  as  Training  Centers  for  Political  Serv- 
ice.— As  to  fitness  and  preparedness  for  their  duties 
the  city  employees  of  the  past  half  century  may  roughly 
be  divided  into  three  classes. 

In  the  first  class  are  those  through  whom  the  partisan 
party  carries  out  its  partisan  program.  If  the  leaders 
of  the  political  party  think  the  election  "safe"  those  of 
their  own  number  may  be  selected  for  the  leading  elective 
positions.  If  the  "peepul"  seem  likely  to  bolt  a  hand- 
picked  politician,  some  "respectable"  college  professor — a 
Hughes,  or  a  Wilson — may  be  chosen.     But  in  neither 

267 


268        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

case  is  the  employee  trained  for  public  service  put  into 
the  numerous  minor  elective  or  appointive  positions.  For 
these  positions  must  remain  the  means  for  financing  the 
party — "rewarding  the  workers"  we  call  it  by  courtesy. 

Such  was  the  chronic  status  of  city  government  in  this 
country  during  the  last  three  decades  of  the  19th  century. 
Philadelphia  remains  an  archaic  example  of  this  type  of 
vassalage.  During  the  partial  respite  from  this  condition 
afforded  by  the  Blankenberg  administration  the  Director 
of  Public  Works  of  that  city  found  certain  documents 
which  proved  that  the  city  employees  had  been  mulcted  of 
$3,cxx),cxx)  in  the  previous  ten  year  period  under  the  guise 
of  "voluntary"  party  assessments.  But  v/orse  than  this, 
the  city's  employees  themselves  were  but  partisan  tools 
to  the  bosses  higher  up.  The  government  that  ran  the 
government  were  the  bosses  of  the  political  party,  and 
the  pseudo-government  was  used  to  finance  this  actual 
government. 

Occasionally  throughout  the  later  years  of  the  19th 
century  and  with  increasing  rapidity  through  the  first 
years  of  the  20th,  this  type  of  public  employee  was  sup- 
planted in  whole  or  in  part  by  a  second  class:  those 
elected  and  those  appointed  as  a  result  of  a  popular 
revolt  against  "invisible  government."  These  officials 
were  usually  dubbed  "reformers,"  and  it  was  the  proper 
thing  to  refer  to  them  as  "failures."  The  reason  for 
their  "failure"  was  simply  that  they  were  not  backed  by 
a  sufficiently  strong  organization  to  overcome  calumny 
and  ridicule,  the  method  of  fighting  which  professionals 
in  politics  use  so  effectively  against  the  amateur.  The 
new  appointments  under  this  class  were  often  highly 
qualified  so  far  as  private  industries  could  qualify  them 
for  public  service.  But  the  results  of  their  work  were 
not  apparent,  and  often  not  permanent. 


CITY  OFFICE  AS  A  TRAINING  CENTER    269 

In  both  these  classes  the  only  direct  training  for  public 
work  that  the  city's  employees  could  have  was  that  se- 
cured in  their  positions  after  they  were  drawing  public 
pay  for  their  services.  From  mayor  down,  full  half  the 
time  of  such  employees  for  the  first  year  or  two  had  to 
be  spent  in  learning  what  to  do  and  when  and  how  to  do 
it.  In  this  regime  the  city  office  was  the  only  training 
center  for  city  work  and  that  for  what  was  in  effect  a 
half-time  employee.  For  must  not  party  work  be  con- 
tinued the  while  ?  And  was  not  first  allegiance  to  "our 
friends"  in  the  party  rather  than  to  the  city  ? 

City  Offices  Training  Centers  for  Public  Service. — 
Happily  this  second  class  is  making  way  for  the  city 
administration  with  a  well  sustained  public  program  sup- 
ported by  permanent  and  well  organized  civic  bodies.  The 
forerunner  of  this  type  of  urban  government  was  the 
administration  devoted  to  "economy  and  efficiency,"  first 
hailed  as  a  "business"  administration.  It,  too,  at  first 
was  often  indirectly  controlled  by  the  same  invisible 
though  compelling  government  that  controlled  the  first 
class  of  public  employees;  but  it  is  now  developing  into 
a  reality  in  a  growing  number  of  American  cities. 

It  is  in  this  class  of  city  administration  that  the  city 
office  is  being  and  can  best  be  used  as  an  effective  training 
center  for  the  permanent  public  servant.  For  now  the 
test  of  fitness  for  office  is  no  longer  success  in  "rolling 
up  majorities"  in  the  home  division,^  but  competency  in 

*  Director  Cooke  in  the  Report  referred  to  above  found  that 
the  city  employee  in  Philadelphia  had  not  been  allowed  to  move 
from  one  division  to  another  without  the  consent  of  his  party 
chief.  Thus  the  city  employee  who  could  not  continue  as  a  good 
division  worker  for  his  party  soon  lost  party  "standing"  and 
hence  his  job. 


270       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

doing  the  careful  technical  work  which  is  so  essential  to 
a  successful  public  administration,  whether  the  position 
be  that  of  electric  wiring  inspector  or  director  of  police. 
There  is  now  the  permanency  in  employment  prerequisite 
to  worthwhileness  in  effective  training.  For  under  this 
type  of  administration  the  test  of  success  is  safe  build- 
ings, or  a  diminished  death  rate,  or  good  results  in  paving 
at  minimum  costs.  The  city  employee  is  no  longer  the 
"go  between"  or  the  "me  too."  He  is  now  the  expert 
accountant  and  the  efficient  stenographer  who  keeps  time 
sheets  so  that  their  worth  may  be  compared  with  the 
worth  of  the  accountant  or  stenographer  doing  similar 
work  whether  in  another  bureau  or  in  private  employ. 

Under  such  an  environment  the  city  office  can  be  the 
effective  training  center  for  two  classes:  those  already 
in  and  those  desirous  of  entering  public  employment.  That 
is,  the  city  office  can  now  become  the  public  training 
center  for  the  pubhc  official,  as  distinct  from  the  erstwhile 
center,  for  learning  from  your  city  job  just  enough  about 
it  to  do  good  party  service. 

Some  Lessons  from  Private  Business. — Just  to  the 
extent  that  public  work  differs  from  private  work,  the 
public  office  must  be  the  training  center  in  which  the 
requisite  knowledge,  habits,  and  skill  are  assured  to  the 
public's  employees.  This  big  fact  private  industry  is  just 
learning;  it  costs  money  to  take  on  a  new  employee  no 
matter  how  menial  or  unskilled  his  work  may  be.  The 
old  freedom  in  hiring  arid  firing  is  thus  receiving  a  sudden 
check  because  accurate  cost  records  show  a  distinct 
money  cost  ranging  anywhere  from  $50  to  $250^  for 

'  Such  as  a  telephone  operator  who  must  have  a  schooling  for 
three  months  before  she  can  go  to  work. 


CITY  OFFICE  AS  A  TRAINING  CENTER    271 

every  hew  employee  that  is  added  to  the  staff.  In  that 
industry  requiring  work  to  be  done  in  a  particular  man- 
ner under  special  circumstances  (and  in  what  industry 
should  this  not  be  the  case),  all  must  work  together  in 
the  harmony  prerequisite  for  maximum  output.  In  all 
such  industries  efficient  use  of  moneys  and  energies  re- 
quire special  training  in  the  offices  or  shops  of  the 
concern;  and  the  employee  receiving  this  training  is  too 
valuable  an  asset  to  be  discharged  without  due  regard  to 
the  money  and  efficiency  loss  necessary  to  choosing  and 
training  a  successor. 

Now  this  same  training  at  the  same  or  greater  cost  must 
be  given  to  the  public  employee.  If  there  are  frequent 
changes  in  employees  the  pubHc  treasury  must  in  effect 
bear  this  additional  cost  of  training  the  new  man.  For 
the  public  pays  the  salaries  of  these  men  while  they 
are  being  educated  for  their  jobs  by  their  jobs. 

Other  principles  as  to  handling  an  efficient  corps  in 
private  industries  apply  to  the  public  business.  Private 
industry  is  now  learning,  not  only  that  permanency  in 
employment  is  essential  to  minimum  overhead  costs  and 
that  unearned  dismissals  demoralize  the  esprit  de  corps 
so  essential  to  cooperative  action,  but  also  that  special 
training  must  be  given  to  the  new  employee  and  that  all 
employees  must  have  continuous  training,  whether  for 
promotion  or  for  the  acquisition  of  new  trades,  in  order 
that  employment  may  be  stable  and  effective. 

The  training  equivalent  to  this  for  the  public  employee 
is  to  be  had  only  in  the  public  office.  In  the  public  office 
must  be  obtained  the  first  training  for  immediate  duties. 
There  must  the  training  be  secured  for  allied  or  substitute 
duties.  There  must  the  training  be  found  essential  to 
promotions.     For  the  higher  public  positions  can  best  be 


2^72       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

recruited  from  below.  Such  training  is  as  necessary  for 
the  legal  department  as  for  the  accounting  department; 
the  Department  of  Health  as  for  the  Department  of 
Public  Works.  There  is  need  in  the  legal  department  for 
knowledge  as  intimate  and  as  accurate  as  to  municipal 
ordinances  and  interpretations  thereof  as  there  is  of  clear 
cut  accounting  methods  in  the  auditor's  office. 

The  minor  employee  and  the  bureau  chief  or  depart- 
ment director  are  the  agents  through  whom  the  responsi- 
ble city  chiefs  get  their  work  done  and  get  their  work 
interpreted  to  the  public.  And  public  work  like  private 
work  is  now  essentially  the  work  of  the  well  trained. 

The  success  of  the  English  government — hailed  by 
many  students  as  the  model  of  efficient  democracy — is 
due  largely  to  the  fact  that  the  public  office  is  the  training 
center  for  the  public  employees.  And  this  is  just  as 
true  for  the  street  car  conductor  as  for  the  Oxford  grad- 
uate who,  after  passing  his  classical  examinations,  goes 
into  the  public  office  for  a  term  of  years  to  learn  his 
business  whether  that  business  be  in  the  India  or  in  the 
Home  Office.  The  same  training  in  public  office  is 
required  of  German  public  servants. 

Similar  training  must  be  vouchsafed  to  the  public 
employees  in  America — the  building  inspector,  the  meter 
inspector,  the  inspector  of  meats  and  vegetables;  the 
accountant,  the  engineer,  the  director  of  Docks  and  Fer- 
ries !  Where  can  any  or  all  of  these  get  the  final  training 
that  adapts  them  to  their  specific  duties,  save  in  the  public 
office?  Both  for  the  immediate  adaptation  of  the  well 
qualified  to  their  special  public  business  and  for  the 
preparation  of  experts  for  the  higher  public  positions  the 
city  office  must  ever  remain  the  community's  training 
center. 


CITY  OFFICE  AS  A  TRAINING  CENTER    273 

The  City  Office  as  Training  Center  for  Teachers  of 
Government. — The  second  class  to  whom  the  city 
office  can  be  of  untold  assistance  "as  a  training  center  is  the 
prospective  city  employee. 

This  means,  first  of  all,  that  the  public  office  must  be 
the  training  center  for  the  teacher  of  government.  It  is 
indeed  passing  strange  that  professors,  w^hether  in  the 
secondary  schools  or  in  the  higher  institutions  of  learning, 
should  ever  have  the  nerve  to  teach  government  without 
knowing  a  wee  bit  as  to  the  practice  of  it.  But  such  is 
the  case  with  the  majority  of  such  teachers  to-day.  And 
yet  within  the  Universities  these  same  teachers  would  fain 
have  themselves  referred  to  as  "political  scientists.'"  But 
happily  within  the  last  few  years  there  has  been  a  growing 
desire  on  the  part  of  these  teachers  to  learn  by  doing. 
Could  Boards  of  Trustees  and  university  presidents 
realize  the  transformation  that  comes  in  the  choice  of 
what  is  worth  teaching,  and  in  human  interest  and  in 
student  zeal,  through  the  teacher  of  government  who  has 
done  practical  work  in  pubHc  offices,  they  would  never 
again  put  their  first  approval  upon  the  doctrinaire  who 
had  had  no  such  experience  but  who  was  "safe  and  sane" 
because  "harmless."  For,  however  harmless  he  may  be 
to  those  who  wish  things  to  remain  as  they  are,  or  who 
are  fearful  lest  expected  endowments  be  estranged,  he 
is  harmful  indeed  to  his  students  and  to  public  welfare — 
harmful  because  deadening  to  human  zeal;  harmful  be- 
cause what  he  teaches  is  of  no  importance,  even  if  true. 
Democracy,  urban  or  national,  can  go  forward  only  when 
teachers  of  affairs  governmental  know  through  their  own 
experiences  of  what  they  speak. 

The  City  Office  as  Clinic. — No  educational  institu- 
tion unless  specializing  on  some  one  phase  of  the  pub- 


274       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

lie  service  can  prepare  its  students  to  enter  immediate- 
ly into  public  employ.  The  engineering  school  must 
prepare  the  civil  or  mechanical  or  the  electrical  en- 
gineer; it  cannot  also  differentiate  between  the  public 
and  the  private  civil,  mechanical  or  electrical  engineer. 
The  same  applies  to  the  School  of  Medicine,  the 
School  of  Law  and  the  School  of  Business  and  Finance 
and  to  the  other  professional  schools. 

As  each  typical  private  business  must  give  to  the 
public  school  or  university  graduate  a  special  season  of 
training  before  he  is  qualified  to  do  its  special  work,  so 
the  public  office  must  be  the  training  center  for  the 
novice  at  public  work  no  matter  how  well  equipped  he 
may  be  in  general.  Whether  this  training  be  called  proba- 
tionary service  such  as  is  typical  of  pubHc  service  in 
Germany  or  whether  it  be  of  the  type  concurrent  with 
school  work  such  as  has  been  exemplified  particularly  in 
the  engineering  school  of  the  University  of  Cincinnati  or 
in  the  Academy  at  Diisseldorf,  soon  to  be  described,  is  a 
matter  on  which  judgments  and  local  conditions  will 
vary.  But  as  to  the  necessity  for  such  training  all  must 
agree. 

The  one  class  of  public  servant  for  whom  training  of 
this  type  has  long  been  recognized  as  a  necessity  is  the 
teacher.  The  basis  of  Normal  School  work  is  that  the 
students  shall  practice  teaching  while  learning  the  princi- 
ples of  sound  pedagogy.  For  it  has  been  well  recognized 
that  the  teacher  who  does  not  learn  in  this  way  learns  by 
practicing  upon  her  own  students  at  heavy  loss  to  her  own 
time  and  energy,  and  to  the  detriment  of  those  practiced 
upon. 

The  Germans  have  worked  out  practical  laboratories 
for  just  such  coordinate  training.  The  purpose  of  the 
Academy  for  Municipal  Administration  in  Dusseldorf, 


CITY  OFFICE  AS  A  TRAINING  CENTER    275 

opened  for  work  in  the  autumn  of  191 1,  is  to  strengthen 
and  broaden  the  knowledge  of,  and  to  offer  a  scientific 
and  practical  training  to,  Germany's  municipal  officials, 
and  to  give  business-like,  scientific  and  practical  education 
to  persons  intending  to  enter  the  municipal  service.  A 
survey  of  the  courses  offered  and  the  methods  employed 
indicates  that  the  academy  is  primarily  an  institution  for 
the  further  training  of  the  higher  municipal  officials.  The 
courses  offered  give  both  detailed  knowledge^  and  training 
in  securing  from  primary  sources*  information  pertaining 
to  the  city's  business. 

'These  courses  include  the  following  subjects:  Constitutional 
rights;  governmental  rights;  the  police  power;  social  ques- 
tions ;  school  and  sanitary  administration  and  legislation ;  insur- 
ance law;  road  law;  economics;  agricultural  economy;  political 
science;  sociology;  resources  of  the  country;  national  econ- 
omy; lawful  rights  of  government;  organization  of  city,  state 
and  nation;  efficiency  in  government;  science  of  finance;  taxa- 
tion law;  money  and  banking;  public  works;  the  city's  utili- 
ties; statistics;  building  regulations  and  administration;  culti- 
vation of  prosperity  and  of  refinement;  defense  of  the  country; 
the  labor  question;  relief  of  the  poor;  business  law;  practical 
work  in  administrative  law ;  municipal  finance  and  constitu- 
tional law  "with  special  reference  to  the  work  of  present  and 
future  city  officials";  criminal  law  and  their  interpretation; 
criminology,  hygiene  and  commercial  and  financial  bookkeeping. 
The  course  of  study  is  so  arranged  that  advanced  students  can 
complete  requirements  for  the  examination  in  two  semesters  of 
about  twenty-five  weeks  of  study  each.  Students  are  advised, 
however,  to  take  two  years  of  two  semesters  each,  before  attempt- 
ing the  examination. 

*0f  a  significance  equally  as  great  as  the  practical  content  of 
the  courses  is  the  practical  work  required  of  the  students  be- 
fore graduation.  Following  each  lecture,  and  presented  in  a 
way  leading  from  the  less  to  the  more  complex,  certain  impor- 
tant, practical  questions  are  taken  up  in  a  very  intensive  manner. 
These  reports,  on  practical  questions,  prepared  by  every  student. 


2'j6       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Quite  in  contrast  to  the  Diisseldorf  academy,  which 
trains  primarily  the  higher  officials,  is  the  Professional 
Training  School  for  Civil  Service  at  Aschersleben  vi^hich 
offers  courses  preparing  primarily  for  the  one  year  proba- 
tionary service  in  German  cities,  for  the  middle  and  lower 
classes  of  public  employees,  and  for  promotion  from  a 
lower  to  a  higher  grade  of  service. 

The  stated  purpose  of  this  institution  is  "to  give  to 
young  persons  the  general  and  professional  education 
necessary  to  enter  the  public  service  career  as  a  minor  or 
middle  officer."  The  course  gives  at  the  same  time  an 
opportunity  to  prepare  for  higher  municipal  administra- 
tive positions  such  as  mayors  in  smaller  towns  and  the 
higher  posts  in  the  larger  towns.  Preparation  for  the 
highest  posts  usually  requires  a  degree  of  training  equal 
to  that  for  the  degree  of  Ph.D.,  though  one  reason  for 
the  establishment  of  the  practical  school  was  to  get  relief 
from  the  theoretically  trained^  doctor  of  philosophy. 

are  in  form  partly  written  and  in  part  a  compilation  of  mate- 
rial. They  may  be  presented  in  loose  form  or  perhaps  in  the 
form  of  a  bound  work.  These  assigned  reports  on  practical 
questions  are  prepared  under  the  supervision  of  the  expert  in 
charge  of  the  course  and  are  so  chosen  and  conducted  as  to 
bring  the  student  very  close  to  the  local  administrative  machin- 
ery and  to  the  definite  problems  in  his  own  field,  and  more  than 
this,  inculcate  methods  of  research  on  daily  practical  questions 
of  Incalculable  value  in  later  public  service. 

'The  duration  of  the  general  course  is  three  years.  The 
school  also  offers  a  one-year  special  course  for  the  training 
of  minor  civil  service  employees  under  governmental,  provin- 
cial and  administrative  boards,  as  well  as  a  one-year  continua- 
tion training  course  for  the  career  of  minor  municipal  officials. 
The  school  also  provides  a  three-months'  continuation  course 
for  those  in  military  service  who  may  desire  to  prepare  during 
compulsory  army  service  for  minor  governmental  positions.  To 
take  this  course  the  student  must  get  leave  of   absence   from 


CITY  OFFICE  AS  A  TRAINING  CENTER    277 

Graduates  of  the  institution  are  assured  in  the  school's 
announcements  that  they  will  be  prepared  as  well  for 
"private  service  such  as  factory  clerks,  cashiers,  cor- 
respondents, office  clerks  and  similar  positions."  Special 
emphasis  is  placed,  however,  on  positions  in  the  "imperial 
administration,  railway  management,  cooperative  and  in- 
surance associations,  street  railways  and  other  utilities, 
taxation  boards,  administrative  courts,"  and  similar  city 
and  governmental  bodies.  Aschersleben  is  urged  to  be 
just  the  place  for  training  for  the  public  service  because 
"it  is  provided  with  all  such  modern  accommodations  as 
aqueducts,  canals,  municipal  baths,  gas  and  electric  works, 
hospitals,  slaughter  house,  etc.,  which  serve  as  labor- 
atories for  practical  training." 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  America's  higher  educa- 
tional institutions  must  adopt  similar  training  facilities  to 
the  end  that  the  city  office  and  the  school  room  may  unite 
to  give  a  broad  practical  training  to  the  city  employee,  a 
training  that  will  mean  to  the  taxpayers  100  percent 
service  for  the  taxes  paid  into  salaries. 

Additional  Reasons  Why  City  Offices  Should  Be 
Training  Centers. — There  are  reasons  other  than  these 
of  competency  and  efficiency  as  to  why  city  offices  should 
be  a  training  center  for  the  permanent  city  employee. 
In  the  first  place,  the  only  laboratory  for  certain  types  of 
work  is  the  city  office.  Typical  examples  are  housing 
inspection,  food  inspection,  milk  inspection,  the  adminis- 
tration of  public  parks  and  municipal  markets.  A  general 
training  of  value  to  these  services  is  available,  but  specific 
training  must  await  actual  experience  in  the  public  office. 

But  more  than  this,  such  a  training  center  is  essential 

the   military  authorities.     He   receives  his   regular   pay  and   in 
addition  13  pfennigs   (3H  cents)   per  day  for  expenses. 


278       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

to  give  to  the  public  employee  a  public  point  of  view. 
For  when  a  private  employee  enters  into  public  work  he 
necessarily  carries  with  him  the  same  attitude  that  he 
had  in  private  work.  How  can  we  expect  a  public 
inspector  of  telephones  to  do  the  work  the  public  should 
-have  done  if  his  whole  training  has  been  in  the  private 
employ  of  the  very  telephone  company  whose  phones  and 
service  standards  come  under  his  jurisdiction?  Is  he  not 
still  the  employee  of  the  private  company  set  into  public 
office  ? 

The  most  vital  reason  for  the  public  office  as  a  training 
center  for  the  public  employee  is  the  different  standards 
between  private  and  public  ethics.  Thus  in  a  private 
employ  there  may  be  no  reason  why  a  friend  may  not  be 
tipped  off  as  to  future  private  or  public  activities  through 
which  he  may  profit.  But  what  should  we  say  of  the 
public  officer  who  informs  his  friend  that  a  certain  site 
of  land  is  to  be  chosen  for  a  public  building  at  any  cost 
in  order  that  his  friend  may  buy  the  land  and  force  higher 
prices  for  it  than  he  gave  ? 

The  Philad-elphia  civil  service  commission  has  under  the 
Blankenberg  administration  attempted  to  test  the  sense 
of  public  responsibility  and  the  ethical  standards  of  those 
who  would  enter  the  public  service.  The  candidate  was 
given  an  oral  examination  before  a  board  of  examiners 
who  are  accustomed  to  sizing  up  men.  These  examiners 
in  several  instances  at  least  have  rendered  their  judgment, 
not  only  upon  the  applicant's  appearance  and  manner,  but 
also  upon  his  answers  to  questions  dealing  with  his  ideas 
of  responsibility  and  ethics,  watching  his  bearing  and 
attitude  while  responding.  For  example,  in  the  notice  for 
the  examination  of  gas  inspector,  in  August,  1913,  the 
commission  set  aside  three  points  for  the  oral  examina- 
tion.    Through   this    oral   examination,   the    examiners 


CITY  OFFICE  AS  A  TRAINING  CENTER    279 

endeavored  not  only  to  size  up  the  executive  qualifications 
of  the  applicant  and  to  secure  the  service  of  men  able  to 
represent  the  city  in  its  negotiations  with  competent  men 
and  public  service  corporations,  but  also  to  secure  a  man 
"of  high  civic  purpose,"  and  one  "who  recognized  obliga- 
tions to  the  community  other  than  those  he  owes  to 
himself." 

The  applicant's  standards  as  to  official  and  public 
responsibility  can  also  be  judged  in  other  ways.  Thus  he 
can  be  required  to  submit  any  books  he  may  have  written 
or  articles  he  has  published.  His  thesis  should  also  reveal 
his  point  of  view.  If  in  these  he  appears  apologetic* 
there  will  be  sufficient  ground  for  considering  that  his 
sense  of  official  responsibility  is  inadequate  for  the  ser- 
vice needed.  The  learned  technical  societies  to  which 
he  belongs,  and  his  record  therein,  are  also  important  as 
weighing  the  pressure  he  would  feel  to  keep  his  profes- 
sional standing  high.  Of  still  greater  significance  are 
the  public  committees  he  has  been  a  member  of,  and  the 
other  ways  he  has  been  of  service  to  his  community. 
Questions  as  to  the  advice  he  would  give  under  stated 
conditions  will  reveal  what  he  has  thought  about  and 
wherein  he  is  informed.  A  major  portion  of  the  appli- 
cants for  a  position  of  law-enforcing  authority  indicated 
that  they  would  not  enforce  the  law  they  were  to  be 
appointed  to  enforce^  one  believing  he  could  enforce  its 
provisions  "after  ten  years  of  education,"  another  that  he 
would  consider  non-compliance  "tb  an  extent  of  five  to 
ten  percent"  was  compliance  with  the  law.  These  vari- 
ous avenues  can  all  be  used  to  judge  a  man's  social  sense 
and  the  degree  to  which  he  will  put  the  public's  interests 
above  his  own  and  above  those  of  corporations  or  private 
concerns.  By  extending  diligence  here,  civil  service 
commissions  can  help  select  a  higher  type  of  exp>ert. 


28o   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

appreciative  of  public  interests  and  social  needs  for  the 
public  office. 

"Doing  the  Thing"  Is  the  Test.— But  even  under  the 
best  of  selective  processes,  the  test  must  be  in  the  doing. 
It  is  only  when  the  public  employee  is  submitted  to 
"pressure"  that  his  real  worth  to  the  public  becomes 
known.  For  under  the  pressure  that  can  be  brought 
against  the  public  employee,  the  man  with  the  best  of 
intentions  may  turn  apologist  and  succeed  even  in  ex- 
plaining his  actions  to  himself.  The  novice  becomes  a 
monk  only  after  he  has  been  in  the  monastery;  the 
preacher  a  minister  only  after,  he  has  withstood  the 
temptations  of  the  pulpit;  the  doctor  a  physician  only 
after  he  has  refused  the  subtle  temptation  to  do  the  un- 
professional or  illegal;  the  public  employee  an  employee 
of  the  public  only  when  he  has  under  pressure  put  the 
public's  interests  above  the  interests  of  party  or  "the 
administration"  or  if  need  be  above  his  own  affairs.  But 
this  sort  of  social  obligation  can  be  fully  developed  only 
in  a  public  office  where  the  standards  of  pubHc  ethics 
range  high. 

The  public  office  is  in  the  last  analysis  the  only  center 
for  real  adequate  training  for  the  public  service. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

BUILDING     ON     TO     PROFESSIONAL     EDUCATION— 

WHAT    TRAINING    IS    NEEDED    FOR    THE 

MUNICIPAL  SERVICE 

THE  demand  for  expert,  trained  officials  in  our  munic- 
ipal service  is  recognized  on  all  hands,  and  the 
obligation  imposed  on  our  universities,  especially  those 
maintained  by  the  state,  to  provide  the  necessary  facili- 
ties for  making  expert  administrators  would  seem  to 
be  self-evident,  if  our  state  universities  are  not  to  fail  in 
one  of  their  most  important  duties  toward  the  state  that 
maintains  them.^ 

University  Training  for  Higher  Positions. — V/e  may 
confine  our  discussion,  therefore,  to  the  best  method  or 
means  by  which  universities  can  meet  this  demand  for 
trained  administrators.  In  the  first  place,  I  believe  that 
the  University  is  not  the  place  to  train  each  and  every 
official  and  employee  who  may  be  required  in  the  service 
of  the  city.  There  should  indeed  be  facilities  for  some 
kind  of  training  for  every  municipal  employee  from  the 
street  sweeper  and  ditch  digger  up,  but  no  one  will  con- 
tend that  the  university  is  the  proper  agency  for  furnish- 

^ See  an  article  by  the  author,  "The  City's  Need;  the  Uni- 
versity'^ Opportunity,"  in  the  American  City,  Vol.  X,  No.  3, 
p.  249. 

281 


282       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

ing  that  kind,  of  training.^  It  is  in  the  higher  positions, 
which  demand  more  than  mere  technical  knowledge,  that 
there  is  real  need  for  university  trained  men,  men  with 
broad  and  liberal  ideals.  These  positions  would  naturally 
be  the  department  heads,  their  immediate  assistants  and 
the  chiefs  of  divisions. 

In  attempting  to  outline  a  program  for  university  train- 
ing in  municipal  administration  one  or  two  preliminary 
considerations  may  first  be  disposed  of.  In  the  first 
place,  it  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  the  purpose  of  such 
an  undertaking  is  to  train  men  for  what  should  be  and 
is  coming  to  be  a  real  profession.  Therefore,  the  course 
of  training  to  be  outlined  should  be  regarded  as  a  profes- 
sional course  in  just  the  same  way  that  the  now  generally 
established  professional  courses  of  law,  medicine  and 
engineering  are  regarded.  This  would  involve  the 
establishment  of  a  distinct  department  for  that  purpose 
and  the  granting  of  special  professional  degrees.  This 
arrangement  might  raise  some  questions  of  university 
reorganization  in  many  institutions,  but  there  are  no 
great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  a  satisfactory  adjustment 
of  those  questions.  We  shall,  therefore,  postpone  a  dis- 
cussion of  those  matters  until  after  we  have  determined 
the  arrangement  and  content  of  proper  courses  of  train- 
ing. 

In  the  second  place,  it  should  be  noted  that  there  is  a 
considerable  amount  of  training  required  for  this  service 
which  may  be  termed  technical  in  one  sense,  but  is  in  a 
larger  sense  liberal,  in  that  it  will  turn  out  men  distinctly 
better  prepared  to  be  good  citizens  even  if  they  do  not 
become  officials,  namely:  a  thorough  foundation  in  the 
social  sciences.     Without  this  foundation  you  may  have 

'This  training  might  legitimately  come  within  the  scope  of 
university  extension. — Editor. 


PROFESSIONAL  EDUCATION  283 

men  well  informed  on  certain  technical  aspects  of  their 
work,  but  lacking  in  that  larger  social  consciousness  which 
should  distinguish  the  educated  from  the  uneducated  man. 
In  this  way  only  can  the  full  advantage  of  having  in 
responsible  positions  university  trained  men  be  realized. 

The  Six  Fields  of  Municipal  Administration. — With 
these  preliminary  observations  we  may  begin  the  con- 
struction of  definite  curricula  in  municipal  administration 
to  fit  in  as  nearly  as  may  be  with  the  general  scheme  of 
university  education  in  this  country  as  a  whole.  The 
first  consideration  is  to  determine  what. natural  division 
of  subjects  presents  itself  for  adoption,  since  manifestly 
it  would  be  impossible  to  train  a  man  in  all  of  the  tech- 
nical activities  of  city  government.  It  would  seem  to  be 
the  most  natural  and  logical  way  of  proceeding  to  examine 
these  activities  of  the  city  and  to  see  if  they  do  not  fall 
into  certain  large  groups  of  subjects  which  are  more 
closely  related  to  each  other  in  the  group  than  to  any  of 
the  subjects  outside  the  group.  And  though  for  purposes 
of  discussion  the  activity  of  the  city  is  divided  into 
distinct  branches,  all  are  interrelated,  and  the  problems  of 
coordination  must  be  considered  as  well  as  the  peculiar 
problems  of  each  division.  There  are  certain  lines  of 
demarcation  which  seem  obvious,  and  others  which  prove 
on  examination  to  be  almost  equally  natural. 

In  the  first  place,  then,  we  can  say  that  the  legal 
department  of  the  city  represents  a  branch  of  activity 
which  not  only  requires  special  professional  training, 
distinct  from  that  which  will  answer  in  any  of  the  other 
departments,  but  the  problems  with  which  it  is  concerned 
are  different  from  those  confronting  the  other  adminis- 
trative services,  no  matter  how  they  may  be  divided.    A 


284       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

separate  legal  department  is  therefore  not  only  universal 
but  logical  and  desirable. 

In  the  same  way,  we  can  say  that  the  administration 
of  measures  for  the  protection  of  public  health  presents 
a  sufficiently  homogeneous  field  to  warrant  its  being  re- 
garded, as  it  almost  invariably  is  in  practice,  a  distinct 
branch  of  municipal  activity. 

A  third  distinct  branch  of  the  municipal  administrative 
service  is  that  dealing  with  the  finances  of  the  city,  includ- 
ing the  assessment  and  collection  of  taxes,  the  receipt 
and  expenditures  of  all  moneys  and  the  accounting  and 
financial  reporting  of  the  city.  This  department,  like 
the  legal  branch  of  the  service,  covers  in  a  sense  the 
activities  of  all  the  others  on  their  accounting  and  financial 
side,  but  nevertheless  it  demands  the  services  of  men  with 
special  training  in  financial  and  accounting  matters. 

Fourthly,  we  may  constitute  the  educational  work  of 
the  city  as  a  separate  field  of  activity.  This  would  include 
not  only  the  schools,  but  also  the  other  educational  in- 
strumentalities, such  as  museums  and  libraries. 

Fifthly,  we  may  distinguish  those  administrative  func- 
tions of  the  city  which  demand  a  knowledge  of  engineer- 
ing as  the  prime  requisite.  These  would  include  the 
whole  matter  of  care  of  the  streets,  sewers,  water  supply 
and  all  public  utilities  whether  owned  and  operated  by 
the  city  or  merely  subject  to  its  supervision  and 
regulation,  and  the  care  of  the  physical  property  of  the 
city. 

There  would  seem  to  remain  then  only  two  general 
kinds  of  functions  not  covered  by  those  already  enumer- 
ated. These  are  the  preservation  of  public, safptv.  that  is, 
sjthe  protection  of  person  and  property  of  the-individual. 

and  the  furthpfi^prp  ^i  thf^  jmh\\c.  welisLve byi -positive 

measures  of  social  meltnr^tinn.  The  public  health  depart- 


PROFESSIONAL  EDUCATION  285 

ment,  it  is  true,  is  also  concerned  with  the  protection  of 
the  safety  of  the  community  from  the  sanitary  point  of 
view,  and  the  education  department  is  engaged  in  positive 
measures  of  social  melioration  in  its  activities.  But  the 
particular  problems  which  confront  these  departments 
are  sufficiently  specialized  and  yet  comprehensive  to 
demand  for  their  treatment  a  separate  departmental 
organization.  The  public  safety  work  would  involve  the 
activities  of  the  police  force  of  the  city  and  of  the  fire 
fighting  forces,  and  the  connection  between  these  two  in 
actual  operation  is  so  close  as  evidently  to  demand  a 
common  head.  But  it  is  equally  true,  it  would  seem,  that 
the  social  activities  of  the  city  which  would,  outside  of  the 
educational  field,  involve  principally  the  administration  of 
public  charity  and  the  prevention  of  crime  are  so  intimate- 
ly and  inseparably  connected  with  the  police  problem  of 
the  city  that  one  and  the  same  person  should  have  charge 
of  what  are  in  reality  but  two  phases  of  the  same 
municipal  problem. 

In  these  six  fields  of  municipal  administration  would 
appear  to  be  included  all  conceivable  activities  of  the 
modern  city.  The  administrative  organization  of  the  city 
ought,  therefore,  to  have  reference  to  these  natural 
divisions,  and  the  problem  of  training  men  in  universities 
for  the  higher  administrative  service  in  cities  becomes, 
therefore,  one  of  offering  courses  of  study  which  would 
specifically  fit  men  to  serve  as  heads  of  these  six  depart- 
ments. Our  university  school  of  municipal  administration 
should  then  contain  six  main  sources  of  study  correspond- 
ing to  the  six  main  municipal  activities  outlined  above. 

The  Liberal  Elements  in  the  Proposed  Curriculum. 

— Taking  up  now  one  after  another  of  these  activities 
more  closely,  let  us  examine  the  particular  matters  on 


286       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

which  the  prospective  heads  of  such  departments  should 
be  informed.  But  first  it  will  be  easier  to  point  out  the 
non-technical  or  liberal  elements  which  it  was  pointed  out 
at  the  outset  should  form  part  of  the  training  of  every 
higher  municipal  official  if  he  is  to  be  a  truly  university 
trained  man. 

On  this  question  of  how  large  an  element  the  so-called 
cultural  studies,  or  at  least  those  not  having  a  direct  bear- 
ing on  the  information  which  a  department  head  should 
have  concerning  the  matters  under  his  control,  should 
play,  there  is  likely  to  be  a  considerable  difference  of 
opinion.  The  maximum  amount  of  such  work  will,  how- 
ever, be  limited  rather  by  necessity  than  by  choice.  That 
is,  the  amount  of  purely  liberalizing  studies  that  can  be 
pursued  in  addition  to  the  subjects  having  a  direct  hearing 
on  future  problems  will  be  determined  by  the  fact  that  the 
period  of  training  as  a  whole  must  not  contemplate  a 
course  of  study  disproportionately  greater  than  that  now 
demanded  for  the  best  training  in  the  other  professions. 
For  that  reason  we  may  assume  that  a  seven-year  ^  course 
of  study  after  graduation  from  a  high  school  would  be 
about  the  highest  limit  which,  for  the  present  at  least, 
could  be  set  for  such  a  course,  except  for  the  health  and 
engineering  departments.  The  amount  of  time  available 
then  for  purely  liberalizing  studies  would  vary  in  the 
different  courses  planned  according  to  the  amount  of 
technical  information  that  must  be  covered  within  the 
maximum  period  mentioned  above.  But  certain  funda- 
mental subjects  may  be  set  down  as  necessary  in  every 
one  of  the  six  courses. 

Collegiate  courses  in  the  English  language  may  be 
regarded  as  a  general  minimum  requirement  for  the 
equipment  of  a  future  department  head.  Ability  to 
'  This  is  obviously  the  maximum. — Editor. 


PROFESSIONAL  EDUCATION  287 

express  one's  opinions  effectively  in  writing  demands  not 
merely  a  knowledge  of  diction  and  grammar  but  practice 
in  writing  as  well.  The  absolute  need  of  such  training 
can  best  be  shown  by  referring  to  the  almost  unintelligible 
reports  prepared  and  presented  by  the  majority  of  public 
officials  to-day.  Another  requirement  of  general  applica- 
tion would  be  certain  fundamental  courses  in  the  social 
sciences — that  is,  sociology,  economics,  and  government, 
together  with  the  amount  of  history  necessary  to  make 
these  subjects  intelligible.  The  social  sciences  are  abso- 
lutely indispensable  in  a  course  which  attempts  to  train 
public  officials  who  shall  have  a  truly  social  and  public 
spirited  point  of  view  of  the  problems  they  must  meet. 
A  thorough  course  in  the  development  and  present  state 
of  municipal  science,  not  only  in  this  country  but  in  other 
countries  as  well,  is  evidently  a  necessity  for  every  mu- 
nicipal department  head  no  matter  what  his  special  field 
may  be.  In  no  other  way  can  a  broad  oversight  over 
the  whole  problem  of  municipal  government,  and  the 
necessary  cooperation  of  all  its  parts,  with  the  consequent 
sympathy  for  and  appreciation  of  the  importance  of  the 
other  departments  be  insured  for  the  future  public 
servant. 

Thirdly,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  we  are  in  this  country 
in  matters  of  municipal  government  far  behind  France 
and  Germany,  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance  that  a 
departmenf  head  should  be  in  a  position  to  study  the 
experience  of  those  countries  in  the  past  and  to  keep  up 
with  the  developments  in  his  line  of  work  at  the  present 
time.  A  good  reading  knowledge  of  French  and  German 
becomes  therefore  a  matter  of  prime  importance  for  our 
purposes  and  as  such  a  reading  knowledge  is  not  usually 
secured  in  the  secondary  schools,  we  must  insist  on  the 
equivalent  of  three  years  of  training  in  each  of  these 


288       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

languages.  This  requirement,  like  that  of  the  social 
sciences,  can  be  viewed  for  the  purposes  here  in  mind  as 
even  more  technical  in  nature  than  cultural,  though  of 
course  the  cultural  value  of  such  studies  is  apparent.  One 
other  subject  remains  to  be  mentioned  as  being  of  great 
importance  to  every  prospective  department  head  no 
matter  what  his  specialty  may  be,  and  that  is  a  knowledge 
of  the  fundamentals  of  accounting.  The  ability  to  under- 
stand, interpret,  and  present  financial  statements  is  one 
which  every  department  head  must  possess  if  he  is  not 
to  be  greatly  handicapped,  nay  even  disqualified  from 
properly  supervising  the  activities  of  the  department 
under  his  control. 

Taking  as  the  basis  for  normal  work  in  our  univer- 
sities fifteen  hours  of  recitations  per  week  throughout  the 
year,  and  assuming  that  three  hours  a  week  be  given  to 
each  of  the  subjects  enumerated  above,  we  find  that  the 
equivalent  of  about  three  years  work  should  be  prescribed 
for  all  of  the  six  groups  of  courses  alike,  leaving  for 
each  one  three  full  years  to  be  devoted  to  strictly  technical 
subjects  relating  specifically  to  the  field  of  work  to  be 
undertaken.  Now  we  can  take  up  in  order  the  individual 
courses  and  examine  what  technical  subjects  would  be 
included  in  each.  This  can  be  done  only  by  considering 
in  some  detail  the  matters  which  will  come  up  before  the 
various  department  heads  for  consideration  and  determi- 
nation. 

Training  for  Legal  Positions. — What  are  the  tech- 
nical subjects  in  which  the  head  of  the  legal  department 
of  city  must  be  trained  for  the  proper  performance  of 
his  duties?  In  the  first  place,  of  course,  he  should  be  a 
lawyer  trained  in  all  the  subjects  which  are  required  for 
admission  to  the  bar  in  his  state.     But  he  must  have  in 


PROFESSIONAL  EDUCATION  289 

addition  a  most  thorough  training  in  the  subjects  com- 
monly included  in  the  term  public  law.  He  must  have 
an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  constitutional  law  of 
the  United  States  and  of  his  particular  state.  He  must 
be  fully  informed  on  the  law  of  municipal  corporations 
particularly  in  his  own  state ;  he  must  have  had  a  course 
in  the  law  of  officers  and  administrative  law  in  general, 
and  should  be  acquainted  with  the  legal  principles  govern- 
ing taxation.  These  are  all  questions  that  are  most 
intimately  connected  with  the  performance  of  his  ordinary 
duties  as  city  attorney.  Unfortunately  there  are  few 
even  of  the  standard  law  schools  in  the  United  States 
which  give  adequate  attention  to  these  subjects,  so 
important  to  the  city  attorney,  but  this  is  a  branch  of 
legal  instruction  which  will  have  to  be  developed  as 
rapidly  as  possible  wherever  it  is  intended  to  furnish 
opportunities  for  university  training  of  public  officials. 
Another  subject  of  immediate  importance  to  the  prospec- 
tive city  attorney,  all  but  neglected  in  our  law  schools  at 
present,  is  the  technique  of  bill  drafting.  One  of  the  most 
important  duties  of  the  city  attorney  is  to  draft  in  the 
shape  of  ordinances  the  legislative  desires  of  the  city 
council.  To  do  this  properly  he  must  not  only  have  a 
clear  understanding  of  what  the  city  can  legally  attempt 
to  do,  which  is  what  he  would  learn  from  the  courses  in 
public  law  enumerated  above,  but  he  must  understand 
how  to  frame  a  given  measure  in  proper  and  adequate 
language.  Examples  of  meaningless,  self -contradictory 
and  otherwise  utterly  ridiculous  enactments  are  to  be 
found  in  great  abundance  in  the  ordinances  of  our  cities, 
merely  because  the  fundamental  knowledge  of  proper  bill 
drafting  was  lacking  in  the  framing  of  measures  which  in 
their  original  intent  may  have  been  not  only  legally  valid 
but  entirely  desirable.     The  prospective  head  of  the  legal 


290       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

department  of  a  city  should  therefore  in  addition  to  the 
regular  three-year  course  of  study  recognized  as  a 
standard  for  legal  training,  devote  an  entire  year  to 
public  law  and  the  science  of  bill-drafting. 

Public  Health  Training. — In  the  training  of  a 
prospective  director  of  a  department  of  public  health, 
it  is  evident  that  greater  emphasis  should  be  laid  than  is 
now  done  in  the  ordinary  medical  course  on  preventative 
medicine  and  hygiene.  Considerable  time  should  be  de- 
voted in  the  medical  course  to  a  study  of  the  sources  of 
danger  to  public  health  found  in  our  cities  and  in  the 
best  methods  of  meeting  and  eliminating  those  dangers. 
It  would  not  be  necessary  that  the  director  of  the  depart- 
ment of  public  health  be  trained  in  all  the  special  subjects 
which  are  required  of  medical  students  intending  to  prac- 
tice the  profession,  for  some  of  those  subjects  would 
virtually  never  be  of  use  to  the  director  of  a  department 
of  public  health,  or  at  least  would  be  distinctly  of  less  use 
in  making  him  an  efficient  municipal  official  than  would 
others  that  might  be  substituted.  But  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  profession  for  which  we  are  planning  to 
train  men  is  itself  but  in  the  process  of  making,  and  that 
the  opportunities  for  employment  in  that  line  are,  owing 
to  the  political  methods  of  making  appointments  still 
prevalent,  few  and  uncertain.  We  cannot,  therefore, 
turn  out  at  the  present  time  men  who  would  make  effi- 
cient municipal  departmental  heads,  but  who  would  be 
at  a  disadvantage  as  compared  with  their  fellows  in  the 
related  professions  to  which  they  may  have  to  turn  to 
make  a  living.  For  that  reason  it  would  seem  necessary, 
for  the  present  at  any  rate,  to  include  in  the  training  of 
our  prospective  health  department  heads  those  subjects 
which  he  must  be  informed  on  to  be  admitted  to  practice 


PROFESSIONAL  EDUCATION  291 

as  a  physician.  From  this  point  of  view,  therefore,  it 
would  be  almost  necessary  for  the  prospective  director  of 
public  health  to  spend  an  additional  year  in  the  medical 
department  specializing  in  subjects  related  to  sanitation 
and  public  health.  As  the  best  medical  schools  of  the 
country  are  now  requiring  the  completion  of  a  four-years 
college  course  for  entrance  to  the  medical  school,  this 
period  of  eight  years  would  not  be  exceeded  by  the 
proposal  here  made. 

Training  in  Municipal  Finance. — The  third  branch 
of  administration  for  which  it  was  found  necessary  to 
give  men  special  training  is  the  financial  administration  of 
the  city.  For  the  position  of  director  of  finances  a  man 
should  receive  as  his  technical  training  a  thorough  drilling 
in  all  branches  of  accounting,  book-keeping,  reporting  and 
auditing,  and  in  public  finance,  including  methods  of 
assessment  and  taxation,  the  investment  of  public  funds 
and  their  proper  custody  and  administration.  He  should 
be  equipped  with  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  insur- 
ance which  would  enable  him  to  manage  a  municipal 
insurance  department  to  advantage. 

Training  for  Educational  Administration. — The  di- 
rector of  public  education  should,  of  course,  speciaHze  in 
the  history  and  philosophy  of  education,  in  school 
administration,  in  the  educational  systems  of  other  coun- 
tries, in  fact,  in  everything  that  is  offered  in  first-class 
university  schools  of  education  to-day.  In  addition  to 
matters  dealing  with  the  public  school  system  of  the  city, 
he  should  be  informed  on  the  best  methods  of  administer- 
ing the  other  educational  agencies  of  the  city  such  as 
libraries,  museums,  municipal  theaters,  etc.  He  would 
not,  of  course,  be  charged  with  the  duty  of  immediately 


292       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

directing  the  work  of  all  these  agencies,  but  he  would 
have  the  duty  of  supervising  their  direction  by  men  who 
are  specialists  in  these  various  fields.  All  of  these  agencies 
and  others  that  might  be  mentioned  are  intended  to  serve 
the  same  general  ends,  viz.:  the  improvement  of  educa- 
tional facilities  in  the  city,  and  to  prevent  jealousies, 
duplication  and  mutual  interference  should  all  be  under 
the  direction  of  a  single  department  head. 

Training  for  Municipal  Engineering. — The  director 
of  the  department  of  engineering  must  be  thoroughly 
trained  in  the  fundamental  subjects  in  civil  engineering 
with  special  emphasis  on  the  sanitary  side,  as  the  most 
considerable  portion  of  his  duties  are  concerned  with  the 
civil  engineering  branch  of  engineering  knowledge,  vis.: 
the  care  of  streets,  sewers,  parks,  water  works,  etc.  But 
he  must  likewise  have  an  acquaintance  with  the  elements 
of  electrical  engineering,  and  with  architecture  and  city 
planning,  as  there  are  important  questions  coming  under 
his  jurisdiction  which  require  a  general  knowledge  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  those  subjects.  Of  course,  the 
director  of  the  engineering  department  cannot  be  an  ex- 
pert in  all^  these  branches,  but  he  must  not  be  absolutely 
ignorant  of  their  foundation  principles  or  he  will  be 
unable  even  to  come  to  intelligent  conclusions  concerning 
the  opinions  which  may  be  rendered  to  him  by  experts 
under  his  direction.  Furthermore,  as  the  director  of 
engineering  is  to  have  under  his  care  the  public  property 
and  works  of  the  city  as  well  as  the  supervision  over 
the  privately  owned  public  utilities,  he  must  be  thoroughly 
trained  in  cost  accounting  and  rate  making.  As  in  the 
case  of  the  public  health  and  training,  so  in  the  case  of 
the  public  engineering  training,  it  would  be  highly  de- 


PROFESSIONAL  EDUCATION  293 

sirable  that  a  prospective  department  head  devote  eight 
years  instead  of  seven  to  his  training.  In  this  way  he 
could  receive  virtually  the  same  civil  engineering  training 
which  his  fellow  students  receive,  and  at  the  same  time 
spend  almost  two  years  in  these  additional  courses,  for 
at  the  present  time  there  is  usually  included  in  the 
ordinary  four-year  civil  engineering  courses  the  equiva- 
lent of  an  entire  year  in  subjects  which  are  not  civil 
engineering,  such  as  English,  Economics,  Business  Law 
and  certain  Electrical  or  Mechanical  Engineering  sub- 
jects. 

Training  for  Public  Safety  Administration. — Final- 
ly, we  come  to  consider  the  technical  training  requisite  for 
a  proper  director  of  public  safety  and  welfare.  The 
duties  of  such  a  department  head  demand  not  only  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  police  administration  and  methods 
of  fire  prevention  and  protection  in  this  and  other  coun- 
tries, as  well  as  the  existing  and  past  methods  of  dispens- 
ing public  charity,  but  a  careful  study  of  the  social  and 
economic  explanations  of  poverty  and  vice  and  their 
proper  treatment.  In  other  words,  he  must  become  ah 
expert  in  diagnosing  the  social  and  economic  ills  of  the 
city  and  be  able  to  apply  positive  measures  for  their 
amelioration  and  cure.  This  would  necessitate  advanced 
studies  in  all  the  social  sciences  as  well  as  psychology  and 
biology,  and  would  occupy  very  fully  the  three  years 
remaining  for  the  more  strictly  technical  training  in  his 
line  of  work. 

In  each  of  these  six  main  courses  of  training  a  suitable 
thesis  should  be  required  in  the  main  line  of  preparation 
before  a  degree  be  given.  Furthermore,  it  is  important 
that  this  theoretical  training  be  supplemented  by  practical 


294       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

work.*  It  should,  therefore,  be  provided  that  the  can- 
didate for  a  degree  in  municipal  administration  spend  the 
last  two  summers  of  his  course  of  training  in  the  active 
service  of  some  municipality  in  the  department  work  for 
which  he  is  preparing.  This  training  must,  to  be  effec- 
tive, be  received  in  a  city  of  not  less  than  thirty  thousand 
inhabitants  and  along  lines  laid  down  by  the  professor  in 
charge  of  the  main  course  of  study  pursued.  Its  principal 
purpose  should  be  to  acquaint  the  student  with  the  actual 
work  of  administration  and  to  enable  him  to  see  in  what 
respects  the  work  as  actually  carried  on  could  be  improved 
in  the  light  of  what  he  has  learned  in  the  theoretical  part 
of  his  course.  In  order  to  insure  that  the  proper  facilities 
be  offered  to  students  for  this  practical  work,  the  legisla- 
ture should  impose  upon  the  cities  of  the  state  the  obliga- 
tion to  provide  adequate  facilities,  without  expense  to 
themselves,  for  receiving  such  students  temporarily  into 
their  service.  Probably  in  most  cities  these  facilities 
would  be  voluntarily  offered  at  least  to  residents,  provided 
the  results  of  their  observations  were  not  made  public  in 
the  shape  of  criticisms  of  the  existing  administration.^ 

Training  City  Managers. — There  remains  a  word 
to  be  said  about  the  training  for  city  managers.  The 
writer  has  not  infrequently  received  letters  from  persons 
desirous  of  fitting  themselves  for  the  place  of  city 
manager.  It  seems  worth  while  here  to  repeat  what  has 
been  said  in  answer  to  such  inquiries.     It  is  not  possible 

*Cf.  In  this  connection  a  bill  passed  by  the  Wisconsin  legis- 
lature (Laws  of  1917),  published  in  Appendix  A  to  this 
volume. 

•For  a  discussion  of  the  University  Organization  for  organiz- 
ing training  for  public  service,  see  Professor  Beard's  "How  Shall 
a  Training  School  for  Public  Service  Be  Organized?"  Chapter 
XX  of  this  volume. 


PROFESSIONAL  EDUCATION  295 

to  attempt  to  train  city  managers  as  such  distinct  from 
the  department  heads  whose  training  is  herein  outlined. 
If  city  managerships  develop  as  they  should  into  a  real 
profession,  it  will  not  be  possible  for  a  man  to  step  into 
such  a  position,  at  least  in  any  but  the  smallest  cities, 
after  merely  completing  an  academic  course  of  training. 
The  city  manager  must  not  only  have  a  thorough  training 
in  the  subjects  mentioned  as  necessary  for  all  department 
heads,  but  he  must  have  proven  executive  ability  of  the 
highest  order.  Such  ability  can  however  show  itself  only 
in  the  actual  work  of  administration  and  no  wise  city  will 
therefore  appoint  a  city  manager  who  has  not  shown 
executive  ability,  no  matter  how  excellent  his  academic 
training  may  be.  But  the  opportunity  for  acquiring 
executive  experience  and  demonstrating  executive  ability 
can  come  to  a  man  only  in  actual  administrative  service 
in  positions  of  the  more  responsible  kind,  that  is  as  a 
department  head  or  as  assistant  department  head.  To 
get  into  such  positions  the  prospective  city  manager  would 
have  to  be  trained  in  one  of  the  six  fundamental  courses 
outlined  above.  Therefore,  it  is  clear  that  the  only  way 
to  train  for  a  city  managership  is  to  choose  one  of  the  six 
main  branches  of  administration  for  study  and  then,  after 
acquiring  experience  and  a  reputation  for  executive 
ability,  go  from  such  a  position  into  the  position  of  city 
manager. 

Only  in  the  smallest  cities  is  there  a  possibility  that  a 
man  with  a  good  training  for  city  engineer  would  be 
employed  as  city  manager  without  previous  administrative 
experience,  for  such  cities  could  not  aiford  to  keep  a 
manager  for  purely  supervisory  duties,  but  would  have 
to  entrust  to  him  one  or  more  of  the  city  departments  for 
immediate  direction.  As  most  of  the  administrative  work 
in    a    small    municipality    deals    with    the    engineering 


296       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

problems  of  the  city,  it  would  be  possible  by  appointing  a 
well  trained  engineer  as  gity  manager  to  save  the  salary 
of  a  city  engineer.  In  this  way  a  young  graduate  in 
municipal  administration  who  had  specialized  in  engineer- 
ing might  receive  appointment  as  city  manager  in  a  small 
city  at  a  salary  sufficient  to  attract  him  but  too  small  to 
draw  a  competent  man  already  established  in  his  pro- 
fession away  from  his  private  practice.  If  such  a  young 
man  had  the  proper  general  training  prescribed  above  and 
proved  himself  a  competent  executive,  he  might  reason- 
ably hope  to  receive  a  call  as  manager  to  a  larger  city 
and  so  enter  the  career. 

Except  in  that  case,  however,  the  graduate  who  had 
specialized  in  engineering  would  show  no  points  of  ad- 
vantage over  men  trained  in  any  of  the  other  fields  of 
municipal  administration,  as  far  as  qualification  for  a 
possible  city  managership  is  concerned.  On  the  contrary, 
it  seems  clear  that  other  things  being  equal,  the  man 
who  had  had  the  best  training  in  the  social  problems  of 
the  city  would  be  preeminently  fitted  for  the  post  as  city 
manager,  where,  as  in  the  larger  cities,  the  social  problem 
in  its  broader  sense  is  by  far  the  most  important,  the  most 
difficult  to  handle,  and  the  one  which  the  ordinary  mu- 
nicipal official  is  least  capable  of  solving. 


CHAPTER  XX 

HOW  SHALL  A  TRAINING  SCHOOL  FOR  MUNICIPAL 
SERVICE  BE  ORGANIZED?^ 

IN  determining  what  form  of  university  organization  is 
best  adapted  to  develop  and  administer  training  for 
public  service,  we  must  make  a  preliminary  inquiry  into 
the  nature  of  the  work  for  which  we  are  to  prepare  stu- 
dents. In  other  words,  we  should  have  definite  notions 
about  the  functions  of  the  institution  which  we  propose  to 
create  before  we  decide  upon  its  organization. 

It  cannot  be  said  too  often  or  too  emphatically,  that 
a  school  of  public  service  would  not  have  before  it 
problems  identical  with  those  which  are  presented  to  a 
faculty  of  law,  medicine  or  engineering,  for  the  simple 
reason  that  the  public  service  embraces  all  professions 
and  pursuits  known  to  our  complex  civilization.  If  we 
look  at  the  professional  service  of  the  City  of  New  York, 
for  instance,  we  find  the  following  groups : 

Accountant  Chemist  Engineer  Nurse 

Architect  Dentist  Forester  Oculist 

Bacteriologist        Dietitian  Lawyer  Pathologist 

Pharmacist        Physician  Psychologist 

*  Paper  read  at  the  Third  National  Conference  on  Universi- 
ties and  Public  Service,  Philadelphia,  November  15,  1916. 

'  297 


298       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

If  you  will  take  the  trouble  to  examine  closely  Table 
No.  I  in  the  "Report  of  the  Committee  on  Municipal 
Service  Survey,"  prepared  by  Dr.  Frederick  E.  Breithut 
of  City  College,  you  will  find  a  list  of  the  various  types  of 
employees  in  the  City  of  New  York.  This  list,  beginning 
with  arboriculturist  and  abstractor,  runs  down  through 
ax-man,  chauffeur,  chaplain,  computer,  curator,  disin- 
fector,  dock-master,  fingerprint  expert,  housekeeper,  hy- 
drographer,  investigator,  librarian,  medical  examiner, 
pension  expert,  professor,  radiographer,  rustic  worker, 
silver  cleaner,  statistician,  surveyor,  transitman,  waitress, 
x-ray  assistant  and  yeoman.  Even  when  we  eliminate 
from  this  three  foot  list  all  those  positions  that  do  not 
involve  college  and  professional  discipline  and,  therefore, 
do  not  concern  us  in  our  present  inquiry,  we  find  that 
enough  educational  complications  are  left  to  tax  the  in- 
genuity of  the  ablest  university  administrator. 

Obviously  in  designing  a  university  school  or  division 
of  public  service,  we  must  have  an  organization  which 
corresponds  to  the  complextity  of  the  functions  it  pro- 
poses to  assume.  By  way  of  comparison,  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  law  school  is  a  simple  matter.  A  dean  and  a 
faculty  of  specialists  in  the  great  branches  of  the  law 
are  appointed.  Courses  are  laid  out  in  accordance  with 
the  academic  calendar.  Students  are  taken  through  a 
formal  program,  and  at  the  end  of  the  second  or  third 
year  they  are  graduated,  and  walk  out  of  the  portals  of 
the  school  into  a  law  office,  or  set  out  in  the  practice 
of  the  profession  for  themselves.  If  anybody  is  under 
the  delusion  that  a  genuine  school  of  public  service  can 
be  organized  on  the  same  plan,  he  should  get  rid  of  it 
at  once,  for  he  is  not  only  suffering  from  grave  mental 
disturbances    himself,    but   is    liable   to    jeopardize   the 


TRAINING  SCHOOL  299 

steadily  growing  movement  in  this  country  for  scientific 
training  for  public  service. 

In  preparing  for  scores  of  different  professions  and 
occupations,  it  is  clear  that  every  branch  of  college  and 
university  instruction  is  involved.  For  a  great  many  of 
the  positions  in  the  public  service,  no  academic  training  in 
addition  to  that  which  is  already  offered  in  the  various 
schools  is  necessary.  The  problem  here  is  not  one  of 
devising  new  courses,  but  rather  of  giving  advice  and 
guidancetothe  students  who  contemplate  entering  govern- 
ment service,  and  of  arranging  for  them  to  secure  some 
practical  experience  in  the  lines  of  work  which  they 
propose  to  take  up.  For  other  branches  of  the  public 
service  distinctly  new  courses  of  instruction  and  field 
training  should  be  organized. 

Without  making  a  further  analysis  of  the  requirements 
of  the  public  service,  we  may  summarize  the  function  of 
a  public  service  school  in  the  following  form: 

'  I — Organization  of  a  program  of  courses  in  all  impor- 
tant branches  of  public  administration. 

2 — Coordination  and  re-grouping  of  courses  scattered 
throughout  various  divisions  of  the  university — combining, 
for  example,  courses  in  business  and  public  administration, 
labor  and  trust  problems  with  courses  in  highway  engineer- 
ing or  public  health. 

3 — Establishment  and  maintenance  of  a  record  filing  sys- 
tem which  will  keep  the  authorities  of  the  school  up  to  the 
minute  on  the  opportunities  and  requirements,  actual  and 
probable,  of  the  public  service. 

4 — Maintenance  of  continuous  contact  with  government 
officers. 

5 — Provision  for  a  system  of  well  organized  and  con- 
trolled field  training  designed  to  give  students  practical  ex- 
perience in  the  work  which  they  will  actually  be  called  upon 
to  do  in  the  public  service. 


300       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

^6-^Advising  and  directing  students  in  choosing  careers  in 
the  public  service  and  laying  out  programs  of  instruction 
deliberately  shaped  (with  the  fullest  possible  knowledge  of 
the^  requirements  of  the  public  service)  in  such  a  way  as 
to  fit  them  for  the  work  they  propose  to  undertake. 

These  being  the  functions  of  a  school  for  public  service, 
it  would  seem  that  the  following  principles  should  be 
embodied  in  its  organization : 

I — It  should  be  controlled  by  a  board  representing  all  of 
the  schools  and  divisions  of  the  university,  especially  engi- 
neering, accounting  and  business  administration,  political 
science,  law,  medicine,  architecture  and  the  normal  school. 

2 — There  should  be  a  director  supported  by  assistants 
chosen  from  the  chief  technical  divisions  represented  on  the 
board. 

3 — There  should  be  a  central  office  equipped  with  all  mod- 
ern appliances  for  record  keeping. 

4 — There  should  be  a  branch  of  the  school  as  near  as 
possible  to  the  City  Hall  and  the  administrative  offices  of 
the  city  in  order  that  constant  contact  may  be  obtained  with 
city  officers  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  students  prac- 
tical experience. 

It  should  be  th-e  duty  of  the  director  and  his  assistants^ 

I — To  keep  a  record  of  all  positions,  federal,  state  and 
municipal  which  are  attractive  to  college  students,  and  the 
subjects  and  dates  of  approaching  examinations. 

2 — To  confer  with  civil  service  commissioners  and  exam- 
iners as  to  relation  between  university  instruction  and  civil 
service   examinations   and   standards. 

3 — To  organize  in  connection  with  the  members  of  his 
board  representing  technical  schools,  field  work  in  the  sev- 
eral divisions. 

4 — ^To  study  (intensively  the  educational  problems  in- 
volved in  training  for  public  serviced 


TRAINING  SCHOOL  301 

5 — To  study  and  measure  statistically  the  opportunities  in 
the  various  fields  of  public  service  with  reference  to  sala- 
ries at  different  ages,  chances  of  promotion  and  conditions 
of  employment. 

6 — To  act  as  vocational  advisers  to  college  students  of  all 
grades,  giving  them  positive  and  accurate  information  con- 
cerning o'pportunities  in  all  branches  of  the  public  service, 
official  and  unofficial.  , 

Surely  such  an  enterprise  is  worthy  of  the  best  talents 
and  energies  w^hich  this  nation  can  produce,  and  yet  it 
is  strange  that  in  the  midst  of  such  talk  about  training 
for  military  service,  so  little  thought  is  given  by  the 
people  at  large  as  to  the  task  of  training  and  selecting 
the  great  army  of  civil  servants,  now^^  amgunting  in  the 
United  States  to  nearly  two  millions.  It  is  doubly  strange 
that  in  an  age  of  magnificent  benefactions  to  universities, 
no  one  has  as  yet  had,  or  at  least  realized,  the  vision  of 
a  great  school  of  public  administration — an  institution 
imperatively  demanded  by  our  democracy  now  struggling 
heroically  to  become  efficient  enough  to  bear  the  burdens 
of  an  industrial  and  imperial  civilization. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
TRAINING  IN  THE  MUNICIPAL  SERVICE 

EVERYTHING  is  to  be  gained  and  apparently  nothing 
lost  by  looking  upon  governmental  activities  as  basic- 
ally not  unlike  those  found  in  the  world  of  business  and 
commerce  and  industry.  Personally  I  have  found  it 
exceedingly  helpful  to  lay  emphasis  on  the  points  wherein 
public  work  is  like  that  encountered  in  private  under- 
takings and  to  minimize  those  points  wherein  the  two  are 
essentially  different.  In  my  judgment  there  are  no  more 
fundamental  differences  between  the  management  prob- 
lems of  the  City  of  Philadelphia  and  those  of  the  U.  S. 
Steel  Corporation  than  there  are  between  the  manage- 
ment problems  of  a  steel  company  and  what  shall  we  say 
— of  a  leather  tanning  establishment.  It  follows  that  the 
problem  of  training  workmen  is  essentially  the  same 
whether  in  public  or  private  employ.^ 

*  Mr.  Cooke  is  emphasizing  here  the  similarities  in  private  and 
public  service  for  the  purpose  of  profiting  by  whatever  experi- 
ence private  business  has  accumulated  that  specifically  relates 
to  the  problem  of  the  public  service.  The  fact  that  private 
business  has  not  accepted  the  public  service  view  could  be  read- 
ily demonstrated  by  putting  the  question  which  Mr.  Cooke  asks 
in  his  second  paragraph  to  the  managers  of  industrial  enter- 
prises. The  look  of  amazement  on  their  faces  would  settle  the 
question.  I  should  be  greatly  surprised  if  one  per  cent  of  all 
the   managers   of   industrial   enterprises   in   this   country  would 

302 


TRAINING  IN  THE  MUNICIPAL  SERVICE    303 

Given  an  adequate  plant  and  sufficient  capital,  perhaps 
the  primary  question  which  should  engage  the  attention 
of  the  managers  of  an  industrial  enterprise  is  one  which 
absolutely  determines  the  status  of  the  employee,  i.e.,  Is 
the  well  being  of  the  employees  or  the  article  manufac- 
tured to  be  the  ultimate  product  of  the  plant?  On  the  an- 
swer depends  the  decision  of  so  many  questions  affecting 
the  conduct  of  the  business — both  large  and  small — that  it 
must  be  met  man- fashion  right  at  the  start.  All  the 
tendencies  of  the  times  make  this  an  exceedingly  practical 
and  pressing  issue.  As  long  as  the  goods  we  manufacture 
are  the  prime  consideration,  rather  than  the  welfare  of 
those  who  produce  them,  just  so  long  are  we  barred  out 
from  those  upper  reaches  of  achievement  which  we  be- 
lieve will  afford  the  distinguishing  marks  of  an  essentially 
democratic  industrial  regime. 

Training  of  Employees  as  Conservation. — Even  in 
this  enlightened  age  it  is  of  course  still  possible  for  a 
farmer  to  neglect  to  fertiHze  his  fields  and  through  an 
improper  succession  of  crops  further  to  deteriorate  their 
soil.     But  the  utter  folly  of  such  a  course  both  from  the 

accept  the  well-being  of  the  employee  rather  than  the  article 
manufactured  as  the  ultimate  product  of  the  plant.  It  is  true 
that  those  who  accept  this  humanistic  conception  of  business 
open  up  to  themselves  reaches  of  achievement  which  to  others 
are  impossible.  It  need  hardly  be  added  that  a  democratic  in- 
dustrial regime  will  insist  ultimately  on  Mr.  Cooke's  viewpoint 
or  at  least  putting  it  on  a  par  with  the  viewpoint  that  the 
article  manufactured  is  the  controlling  consideration  in  the 
business. 

Toward  the  close  of  this  chapter  Mr.  Cooke  has  pointed  out 
very  effectively  the  distinction  between  the  democratic  and  auto- 
cratic theories  of  management  as  applied  to  private  and  public 
business. — Editor. 


304        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

standpoint  of  the  individual  and  of  the  nation  becomes 
more  and  more  apparent  as  science  reveals  her  secrets 
and  education  makes  them  the  common  possession  of 
the  agricultural  classes. 

As  long  as  the  forest  lands  were  at  our  very  doors  and 
in  such  abundance  as  to  be  ours  for  the  asking,  the  neces- 
sity for  their  conservation  was  not  evident.  But  now 
that  the  purchase  of  timber  lands  involves  a  large  capital 
expenditure  and  that  lumbering  under  modern  conditions 
means  planning  on  a  large  and  expensive  scale  and — in 
an  economic  sense — more  particularly  because  our  stat- 
isticians can  predict  with  a  nicety  the  date  of  the 
exhaustion  of  the  present  supply,  lumber  interests  are 
studying  the  details  of  every  process  to  the  end  that 
waste  may  be  eliminated  and  genuine  efficiency  practiced. 
The  shortsighted  policy  of  each  for  himself  and  let  the 
future  "go  hang"  is  giving  way  everywhere  to  an  attitude 
of  confidence  in  long  view  policies — one  in  which  the 
interests  of  present  owners  are  seen  to  be  inseparably 
interwoven  with  those  of  the  future. 

The  City — a  Long  Time  Proposition. — The  time 
factor  here  is  all  important.  If  those  who  own  and 
control  a  business  of  to-day  feel  no  interest  in  or  re- 
sponsibility for  the  future,  obviously  the  training  of 
employees  becomes  little  more  than  a  financial  burden. 
But  once  the  discovery  is  made  that  the  policy  of  frequent 
"hirings  and  firings"  makes  genuine  efficiency  impossible 
and  that  periodic  changes  in  the  management  lead  to 
disaster,  there  comes  about  a  tie-in  as  between  the 
present  and  the  future  which  directly  calls  for  both  a 
systematic  training  of  the  workers  of  all  grades  and  a 
stabilizing  of  the  management.  In  industry  the  plant 
which  does  not  put  in  practice  these  two  policies  cannot 


TRAINING  IN  THE  MUNICIPAL  SERVICE    305 

compete  with  one  that  does.  In  our  municipalities  as 
we  develop  the  methods  for  gauging  economy  and  effi- 
ciency it  will  become  more  and  more  apparent  that  the 
systematic  training  of  employees  is  an  indispensable 
factor  in  securing  increasingly  satisfactory  results. 

It  must  be  clearly  borne  in  mind  that  the  earning  of 
dividends  in  industry  is  in  itself  no  gauge  to  efficiency. 
In  fact  this  day-to-day  necessity  for  earning  dividends 
in  privately  operated  establishments  is  one  of  the  checks 
on  efficiency,  using  that  term  in  its  broadest  significance. 
But  our  city  governments  suifer  no  such  handicap.  The 
most  important  dividend  city  government  can  declare  is 
paid  in  terms  of  the  happiness  of  its  citizen-stockholders. 
There  may  be  some  argument  for  doing  the  shortsighted 
thing  in  private  enterprises,  especially  if  you  are  losing 
money  and  perhaps  in  so  doing  you  tide  yourself  over  a 
tight  place.  But  the  city  is  a  long  time  proposition.  The 
share  holders  of  to-day  are  very  largely  the  share  holders 
of  to-morrow  and  when  properly  advised  do  not  press  for 
immediate  returns  if  thereby  the  future  is  to  be  made  to  ^^ 
suffer.  Therefore  a  city  is  well  advised  if  it  plans  to 
have  at  all  times  the  number  of  employees  requisite  to  do 
its  work  in  the  most  adequate  fashion,  to  have  each  of 
them  as  efficient  as  possible  in  his  or  her  own  particular 
function,  and  then  to  surround  each  and  every  one  of 
these  employees  with  those  conditions  as  to  pay,  hours, 
housing,  education,  direction  and  leadership  as  will  make 
for  the  highest  individual  prosperity.  Anything  short  of 
this  is  simply  putting  a  brake  on  civic  progress.  It  is 
only  as  we  see  in  the  happiness  and  the  development  of 
the  workers  the  first  object  of  all  industry  and  make  a 
by-product  of  their  accomplishment  that  we  secure  the 
maximum  of  production.  Clean  streets,  safe  and 
economical  bridge  structures,  good  policing  and  a  low 


3o6        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

death  rate — eve;n  dream-high  planning  for  the  future — 
will  come  as  the  necessary  by-product  of  a  well  chosen, 
well  protected,  well-trained  and  inspired  personnel.  ^ 

Training  in  Cooperation. — ^The  fact  that  we  are  ob- 
serving unmistakable  tendencies  rather  than  fully  ac- 
complished conditions  as  exemplified  in  agriculture  and 
forestry  only  adds  to  the  interest  of  the  situation.  Our 
joy  lies  in  the  recognition  of  possible  progress,  in  having 
a  vision  toward  which  perhaps  we  may  see  only  the 
direction  and  in  the  accomplishment  of  which  our  genera- 
tion may  be  allowed  to  take  only  the  first  few  halting 
steps.  So  viewed,  industry  is  seen  to  be  emerging  from 
a  stage  darkened  by  waste  and  misunderstanding  into  the 
warmer  and  brighter  day  of  what  we  "fervently  pray 
and  ardently  believe"  is  to  be  a  genuine  industrial  democ- 
racy. If  this  dream  is  to  come  true  it  necessarily  means 
training  both  in  government  and  in  industry  of  the 
individual  both  as  an  individual  and,  what  is  even  more 
important,  as  a  unit  in  a  cooperative  undertaking.  Be- 
cause, of  course,  true  democracy  itself  dawns  only  as  the 
era  of  cooperation  makes  it  possible. 

We  should  seek  to  emphasize  this  feature  of  coopera- 
tion because  in  all  classes  of  government  work  it  has 
been  almost  entirely  neglected.  It  frequently  occurs  that 
the  employees  of  two  divisions  in  the  same  bureau  do  not 
cooperate  in  ways  quite  obviously  possible  upon  even  a 
casual  observation  of  the  work  done  by  each.  The 
curious  thing  about  this  is  that  more  often  than  not  the 
possibility  of  cooperation  has  never  been  suggested. 
Sweeping  away  the  difficulties  which  prevent  cooperation 
is  always  an  easy  task  when  once  the  desire  for  it  has 
been  aroused.  In  the  absence  of  tangible  illustrations 
such  a  feature  as  cooperation  is  apt  to  be  such  an  abstract 


TRAINING  IN  THE  MUNICIPAL  SERVICE    307 

idea  to  the  average  student  of  municipal  government  that 
it  fails  to  suggest  a  definite  line  of  action.  Yet  in  the 
very  citing  of  illustrations  we  seem  to  limit  the  field  of 
its  operation.  But  to  those  who  sense  the  power  of 
cooperation  the  scope  of  its  possible  influence  is  seen  to 
be  limitless. 

I  remember  hearing  Frederick  W.  Taylor,  the  father"^, 
of  Scientific  Management,  remark  "good  principles  are  jp^ 
almost  always  the  result  of  good  habits ;  good  habits  in-  J 
frequently  develop  simply  from  good  principles."  The  I 
application  of  this  to  training  municipal  employees  in  ' 
cooperation  suggests  that  we  will  never  accomplish  in 
this  civic  field  the  broader  aims  of  cooperation  until  we 
have  actually  cooperated  in  the  small  affairs  of  our 
everyday  municipal  life.  If  we  would  learn  to  apply  the 
cooperation  principle  in  large  and  important  affairs,  we 
should  respond  the  next  time  anybody  gives  us  the 
opportunity  to  cooperate,  no  matter  how  small  the  under- 
taking. Any  one  of  three  bureaus  connected  with 
Philadelphia's  City  government — sewer  repair,  water  or 
sanitation — might  be  interested  in  a  complaint  about 
water  in  a  given  citizen's  cellar.  Formerly  the  repre- 
sentatives of  each  of  these  bureaus  visited  the  house  in 
succession  until  in  this  way  the  one  at  interest  was 
discovered.  It  was  only  a  rudimentary  type  of  coopera- 
tion which  suggested  that  the  first  man  on  the  ground 
should  diagnose  the  cause  of  the  trouble  and  report  his 
finding  to  the  proper  bureau — even  in  some  cases  going 
further  and  actually  taking  the  action  which  it  was 
proper  for  the  municipality  to  take.  It  was  only  natural 
that  the  inspectors  of  these  three  bureaus,  having  seen 
this  change  actually  effected  and  their  own  usefulness 
materially  enhanced  thereby,  should  be  ready  for  the  next 
step  in  cooperation.     As  a  matter  of  fact  this  one  change 


3o8        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

directly  led  to  a  long  line  of  changes,  each  with  its  co- 
operative element,  and  many  of  them  suggested  by  the 
men  directly  responsible  for  the  work. 

Those  high  in  authority  should  resist  in  every  possible 
way  the  assuming  of  responsibility  for  individual  plans 
or  individual  men.  For  each  such  plan  and  for  each 
individual  in  the  organization  there  should  of  course  be 
some  one  specifically  in  charge.  But  those  doing  the 
leading  should  remember  that  they  are  responsible  for 
principles — not  results — and  among  these  none  is  so  in- 
clusive as  the  broad  principle  of  cooperation.  Depart- 
ment and  bureau  heads  must  be  trained  to  cooperate. 
Employees  must  be  trained  to  that  type  of  service  which 
sees  in  every  act  a  great  cause — one  in  which  the  petty 
annoyances  of  the  movement  are  apt  to  be  forgotten. 
All  grades  of  public  employees  want  to  be  taught  to 
cooperate  more  broadly  with  the  public.  And  last,  but 
not  by  any  means  least,  there  rests  a  responsibility  on  the 
public  official  to  train  the  public  into  an  attitude  in  which 
government  is  not  something  apart  from  themselves,  but 
an  organism  in  which  every  citizen  has  his  share  and 
responsibility  from  childhood  through  old  age.  Follow- 
ing the  Taylor  precept  above  quoted,  we  used  every 
opportunity  in  our  work  in  Philadelphia  to  have  bureau 
chiefs  frequently  get  together  at  the  luncheon  table  and 
at  informal  office  meetings.  We  encouraged  the  same 
thing  among  the  employees  generally  in  organizing  social 
gatherings  and  athletic  carnivals.  In  order  to  get  the 
public  into  the  play,  we  made  it  a  rule  always  to  have 
some  one  in  ''from  the  outside"  and  availed  ourselves  of 
every  opportunity  to  have  our  employees  invited  to  citizen 
gatherings  wherever  our  work  was  discussed.  The  day 
of  the  man  who  lives  and  works  by  himself  is  past.  No 
matter  how  good  he  may  be  in  his  specialty,  the  "in- 


TRAINING  IN  THE  MUNICIPAL  SERVICE    309 

dividual  worker"  will  be  found  to  be  an  increasing  burden 
to  any  organization.  This  is  the  day  for  cooperative 
effort. 


Training  in  Service  Is  for  Every  One. — The  title 
of  this  chapter  might  just  as  well  have  been  "Training 
Experts  in  the  Municipal  Service"  because  under  the  100 
percent  standard  which  it  is  just  as  well  for  us  to  set  for 
ourselves — even  if  we  know  we  cannot  achieve  its  full 
measure — every  employee  from  bottom  to  top  is  to  be  as 
much  of  an  expert  in  performing  the  function  or  func- 
tions specifically  committed  to  his  charge  as  it  is  possible 
to  make  him.  Right  here  it  is  well  to  call  attention  to 
the  fact  that  no  one  in  the  organization  should  consider 
himself  exempt  from  this  training.  The  modern  science 
of  management  makes  no  difference  in  its  application  of 
principle  to  the  president  and  the  messenger,  the  general 
manager  and  the  porter,  yes — even  to  the  mayor  and 
the  street  cleaner.  Each  of  them  can  be  an  expert  and  if 
he  is  he  works — not  under  men — but  under  laws,  laws 
recognized  or  unrecognized,  but  all  as  scientifically  inter- 
dependent as  those  of  chemistry  or  physics.  //  any  one 
has  "arrived"  so  completely  as  to  need  no  further  train- 
ing, a  radical  change  of  environment  is  suggested.  This 
is  especially  true  in  the  municipal  field;  one  which  has 
hardly  been  surveyed;  much  less  been  cultivated  to  the 
full  extent  of  its  possibilities. 

In  planning  any  adequate  scheme  for  training  em- 
ployees, due  consideration  must  be  given  to  the  fact  that 
coincident  with  an  almost  incalculable  increase  in  knowl- 
edge there  has  come  about  a  growing  complexity  in  the 
conditions  under  which  all  human  labor  is  performed. 
Increase  in  specialization  is  forcing  upon  the  industrial 
world  a  regard  for  the  elements  of  management  such, 


3IO       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

for  instance,  as  routing,  the  science  involved  in  the  most 
efficient  movement  of  men  and  materials  within  a  factory ; 
and  balance,  which  is  one  name  given  to  the  control 
of  the  volume  of  work  in  the  several  departments  neces- 
sary for  the  highest  production  of  the  entire  plant.  We 
must  also  bear  in  mind  that  society  year  by  year  is 
revamping  its  concepts  of  the  laborer  in  relation  to  his 
job.  We  hear  little  in  these  days  of  the  law  of  master 
and  servant  and  less  and  less  frequently  we  hear  labor 
referred  to  as  a  commodity. 

The  Man  Must  Be  Considered  as  Well  as  His  Work. 

— Notwithstanding  these  conditions,  city  officials  and 
more  especially  our  civil  service  folk  still  look  upon  a 
caulker  very  largely  as  a  machine,  and  one  almost  ex- 
clusively engaged  from  morning  to  night  in  hammering 
oakum  and  lead  into  the  joints  of  a  pipe  line.  No  one 
much  cares  what  he  does  when  he  is  not  caulking  in  or 
out  of  the  regular  hours  of  labor.  No  one  pays  the 
slightest  attention  to  what  he  is  thinking  about  while  he 
is  caulking!  My  theory  about  this  caulker  is  that  his 
employer — the  municipality  in  this  case — is  not  without 
interest  in  anything  that  affects  him  in  any  vital  way. 
If  for  the  time  being  I  represent  the  city  as  mayor, 
director,  chief,  superintendent  or  foreman  in  having  some 
relation  to  this  caulker  it  is  up  to  me  to  so  conduct 
myself  as  to  make  him  think  with  and  for  our  common 
employer — the  city.  It  cannot  be  for  the  good  of  the 
city  any  more  than  it  is  for  the  good  of  the  caulker  that 
he  should  have  just  cause  for  believing  that  he  is  over- 
worked, underpaid,  or  that  his  loyal  service  goes  un- 
appreciated. On  the  contrary,  every  opportunity  should 
be  taken  for  making  him  feel  that  his  broadest  prosperity 


TRAINING  IN  THE  MUNICIPAL  SERVICE    311 

IS  as  much  a  matter  of  concern  as  the  quality  and  amount 
of  work  which  he  performs. 

Original  Selection  Must  Be  Made  with  Reference 
to  Training  in  Service. — More  thought  will  have  to  be 
devoted  to  the  selection  of  the  workers  if  their  later 
training  is  to  be  successful.  It  is  obvious  that  these  two 
functions  are  bound  up  with  each  other.  I  am  a  firm 
believer  in  the  merit  system,  but  if  those  who  are  at 
the  present  time  responsible  for  its  conduct  in  this 
country  think  it  has  "arrived,"  they  have  only  to  examine 
the  relation  between  the  functions  of  hiring  and  training 
in  the  most  advanced  industrial  plants  to  be  disillusioned. 
The  theory  generally  held  is  that  all  industrial  establish- 
ments are  pretty  much  alike.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  two 
industrial  plants  that  are  alike  in  being  splendidly  oper- 
ated will  differ  as  do  two  individuals  of  good  character, 
so  that  more  and  more  an  employee  must  be  chosen 
because  he  will  fit  into  an  organization.  He  may  be  a 
good  man  and  an  efficient  worker  and  still  not  be  as 
well  adapted  to  the  new  environment  as  another  appli- 
cant. 

There  is  a  certain  position  in  the  City  of  Philadelphia 
requiring  not  only  some  technical  knowledge  but  more 
particularly  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  ethical  considera- 
tions which  enter  into  many  kinds  of  public  acts.  At 
my  request  the  Civil  Service  Examiners — men  themselves 
whose  standards  in  such  matters  were  very  high — intro- 
duced into  the  oral  examination  for  this  post  a  discussion 
of  questions  which  directly  and  indirectly  enabled  them 
to  estimate  the  applicant's  regard  for  those  nice  points 
in  individual  conduct  which  are  apt  to  make  or  mar  a 
public  record.  It  was  surprising  to  see  how  many  men 
who  had  passed  otherwise  satisfactory  tests  failed  at  this 


312        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

point.  Going  a  bit  further  down  in  the  scale  I  might 
put  up  with  a  "grouchy"  caulker  if  I  inherited  him  from 
a  previous  administration.  But  on  the  other  hand,  if  I 
could  develop  a  test  for  "grouchiness"  in  caulkers  and 
thus  keep  them  out  of  the  organization  it  would  make  for 
efficiency  and  peace  of  mind.  At  best  our  present  civil 
service  tests  must  be  considered  very  crude.  Sometimes 
those  examinations  which  require  the  most  time  and  in 
which  questions  are  asked  which  from  the  educational 
standpoint  are  the  most  difficult  to  answer,  develop  the 
smallest  amount  of  the  kind  of  information  we  want 
where  the  applicant  is  looked  upon  as  timber  for  sub- 
sequent training. 

Organizing  for  Intelligent  Selection:  Central  Em- 
ployment Office. — Perhaps  the  first  and  most  obvious 
move  to  be  made  in  preparing  for  this  training  work  is 
the  establishment  of  one  employment  office  for  the  whole 
organization.  In  the  Department  of  Public  Works  in 
Philadelphia  with  its  4,000  employees  distributed  among 
six  bureaus  and  involving  work  covering  129  square  miles 
of  territory,  we  established  such  an  office,  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  our  freedom  of  choice  was  limited  to 
the  Civil  Service  eligible  list  from  which  under  the  law 
we  were  forced  to  make  our  selections.  We  established 
agencies  in  every  part  of  the  city  for  supplementing  the 
information  secured  by  the  Civil  Service  Commission. 
Very  frequently  we  made  additional  use  of  the  examina- 
tion papers  and  other  records  which  resulted  from  the 
Civil  Service  procedure  in  our  effort  to  get  men  and 
women  of  a  type  which  would  fit  into  an  organization 
of  the  type  which  we  were  trying  to  create.  To  Abraham 
Lincoln  is  attributed  the  remark  that  any  man  at  50 
years  of  age  is  responsible  for  his  face.  Partial  respon- 


TRAINING  IN  THE  MUNICIPAL  SERVICE    313 

sibility  begins  much  earlier,  and  so  we  had  as  a  part  of 
our  employment  office  records  a  photograph  of  every 
man  in  the  department.  If  one  does  not  make  a  constant 
effort  to  individualize  employees  by  such  methods  as  this, 
the  temptation  to  think  about  them  in  the  mass  is  almost 
irresistible  and  all  possibility  of  anything  even  approx- 
imating scientific  management  disappears.  I  know  of 
one  concern  which  photographs  employees  periodically 
to  make  sure  that  the  record  is  one  of  progress  and  not 
retrogression.  The  face  seems  to  be  as  good  a  test  of 
personal  status  as  you  can  get.  Our  photographs  were 
mounted  on  the  regular  employment  card  on  which  we 
kept  as  full  a  record  as  possible  of  the  employee — his 
history,  his  characteristics  and  his  attainments. 

The  change  to  a  central  employment  office  is  one  easily 
brought  about  on  the  municipal  service.  In  most  private 
establishments  the  foremen  do  all  the  hiring  and  firing. 
This  prerogative  is  so  firmly  entrenched  and  so  highly 
valued,  that  sometimes  it  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  upset 
it  in  favor  of  the  more  efficient  and  modern  method. 
But  in  the  municipal  service  it  has  been  so  customary  for 
the  head  of  the  department  to  make  all  appointments — 
usually  for  political  reasons — that  no  special  attention 
has  been  paid  to  the  central  employing  agency.  Employ- 
ment cards  in  the  past  have  been  too  exclusively  a  means 
of  recording  men's  faiHngs  and  misdeeds.  They  must 
be  given  a  more  constructive  place  in  the  whole  scheme 
of  the  management.  To  this  end,  at  least  once  a  year  at 
the  beginning,  and  later  on  at  more  frequent  periods, 
some  report  on  each  individual  should  be  made  to  him  by 
the  one  who  through  directing  his  work  is  in  the  best 
position  to  study  and  know  about  it.  This  means  that 
every  foreman  should  be  made  to  report  at  least  once  a 
year  on  the  character  of  the  work  done  by  every  man  in 


314   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

his  charge.  When  this  report  is  adverse  some  effort 
should  be  made  to  call  the  matter  to  the  attention  of  the 
employee  in  such  a  way  as  to  effect  an  improvement. 

Rates  of  pay  are  best  made  a  function  of  the  employ- 
ment bureau.  It  is  hard  to  be  dogmatic  in  this  matter. 
But  other  things  being  equal,  no  employee  should  be 
kept  too  long  at  the  same  rate  of  pay.  The  matter  of 
his  rate  should  at  least  receive  periodically  some  one's 
special  consideration.  Ordinarily  if  you  do  not  see  pro- 
motion ahead  for  a  man  in  your  own  organization,  it  is 
better  to  secure  for  him  a  position  in  some  other  organiza- 
tion where  he  may  have  such  a  chance.  Sometimes  you 
get  a  man  so  favorably  located  with  respect  to  his 
abilities  and  limitations  that  it  is  to  his  interest  to  be  let 
alone.  The  employer  in  this  case  knows  he  is  paying 
all  the  man  can  ever  be  worth  and  so  does  the  man.  It 
does  not  make  for  a  strong  organization  to  have  too 
many  men  so  situated.  A  certain  percentage  of  fixtures, 
each  for  cause — like  a  certain  percentage  of  old  men — • 
are  ornaments  to  any  organization.  But  for  the  most 
part,  you  want  your  employees  to  feel  the  thrill  of 
"getting  ahead" — the  leader  himself  wants  the  thrill  of 
knowing  that  he  is  at  the  head  of  so  many  hundreds  or 
so  many  thousands  of  men  and  women  who  are  moving 
forward — with  something  bigger  and  better  ahead  of 
them. 

Man-making. — Whatever  is  done,  arrange  the  work 
of  the  employment  bureau  so  that  individual  employees 
will  know  that  they  are  not  forgotten — that  some  one 
in  the  organization  is  thinking  about  their  individual 
interests.  It  is  most  important  to  definitely  organize  so 
as  to  sound  "shop  opinion"  both  at  regular  periods  and 
on    special    occasions.      The    old-time    employer    knew 


TRAINING  IN  THE  MUNICIPAL  SERVICE    315 

intuitively  what  his  employees  thought  about  this  and  that 
matter  of  mutual  interest.  We  have  some  of  those  old 
chaps  still  with  us  but  they  do  not  deceive  anybody. 
The  modern  employer  knows  that,  having  every  intention 
of  doing  the  square  thing  in  every  relation  with  his  co- 
workers and  availing  himself  of  every  means  of  knowing 
what  is  wanted,  he  still  can  only  know  in  a  superficial 
way  the  real  thoughts  and  desires  and  purposes  of  the 
great  mass  of  those  assqciated  with  him.  This  being 
true,  it  is  up  to  those  who  seek  to  be  true  friends  of  the 
laboring  classes  and  who  desire  to  have  all  industry 
carried  on  on  a  genuinely  cooperative  basis  to  seek  every 
opportunity  to  free  the  channels  by  which  shop  thought 
expresses  itself.  At  best  it  will  be  a  feeble  echo  of 
what  is  in  the  back  of  the  men's  heads. 

It  is  an  easy  step  from  the  employment  office  to  the 
service  department.  Here  we  must  certainly  find  a  visitor 
and  a  nurse — perhaps  at  the  beginning  the  two  functions 
combined  in  one  person.  We  employed  Miss  Lillian  J. 
Gibbs  in  the  Department  of  Public  Works  to  visit  our 
sick  and  injured  men  in  the  hospitals,  to  be  a  friend  in 
cases  of  sickness  or  death  in  the  houses  of  our  men,  to 
keep  an  eye  on  the  sanitary  conditions  of  the  places 
where  they  worked,  to  find  employment  for  relatives  of 
employees,  to  counsel  with  the  ''booze  fighters"  and 
very  occasionally  "to  get  Tom — or  Bill  out" — in  fact  to 
be  everybody's  friend  in  time  of  need.  The  city  official 
who  has  never  had  an  assistant  to  do  just  these  things 
should  try  it !  Of  course  you  can  broaden  out  the  func- 
tions of  this  department  so  as  to  provide  medical  service, 
periodical  physical  examinations,  the  lending  of  money 
in  emergencies;  sick,  accident  and  death  benefits;  home 
nursing  and  all  sorts  of  similar  activities,  most  of  which 
can  be  found  already  in  successful  operation  somewhere. 


3i6       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Of  course  it  is  easy  to  argue  that  this  is  not  "training 
employees."  But  it  is !  It  has  more  to  do  with  getting 
efficient  service  out  of  your  men  than  all  the  other 
forms  of  schooling  you  can  possibly  give  to  them.  It 
is  the  man  making,  home  helping,  character  building,  in- 
spirational end  of  the  business.  It  means  abundant  life 
for  any  organization,  industrial  or  governmental. 

The  Strictly  Educational  Work. — The  more  strictly 
educational  work  cannot  be  done  profitably  except  with 
a  loyal,  prosperous,  ambitious,  contented,  well-led  body 
of  men  and  women.  Granted  that  the  steps  necessary 
to  produce  this  kind  of  a  staff  of  employees  have  been 
taken,  it  is  as  natural  to  follow  with  educational  work 
as  it  is  "for  a  fox  terrier  to  chase  chickens."  I  have 
always  found  that  it  is  better  to  have  the  desire  for 
night  school  and  other  kinds  of  outside  educational  work 
grow  out  of  an  educational  effort  within  the  organiza- 
tion. We  formed  regular  classes  within  the  department 
for  certain  grades  of  our  men.  One  of  these  was  for 
firemen  in  our  pumping  stations  and  another  was  for  in- 
spectors engaged  on  sewer  construction  contract  work. 
We  planned  the  work  carried  on  within  the  department 
so  that  practically  every  one  in  a  given  grade  could 
profit  by  it.  Invariably  out  of  any  such  group  will  ap- 
pear one  or  more  who  see  the  possibilities  of  further 
educational  endeavor  and  are  willing  to  make  the 
sacrifice  to  get  it.  It  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  a  good 
idea  to  pay  the  entire  fee  for  any  such  course,  but  a 
group  of  the  higher  salaried  men  always  held  themselves 
ready  to  contribute  to  it  or  at  least  to  arrange  that  any 
such  additional  burden  could  be  carried  and  paid  on  the 
installment  plan.  At  one  time,  out  of  4,000  employees 
we  had  250  in  the  various  night  schools  of  the  city.     We 


TRAINING  IN  THE  MUNICIPAL  SERVICE    317 

organized  a  committee  of  teachers — representing  the 
different  schools  open  to  our  employees — who  met  regu- 
larly in  the  City  Hall  to  advise  with  employees  who 
wished  to  take  these  outside  courses.  On  the  first 
Thursday  evening  of  every  month  I  made  it  a  rule  to  go 
to  my  office  in  the  City  Hall  to  meet  any  employee  who 
might  care  to  call  on  me.  During  three  years  I  never 
failed  to  have  at  least  a  half  dozen  callers  and  on  one 
occasion  there  were  nearly  one  hundred.  Quite  fre- 
quently these  men  and  women  wanted  advice  either  for 
themselves  or  their  childen  on  educational  questions  and 
frequently  they  came  to  express  thanks  for  efforts  made 
in  their  behalf. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  for  people  with  no  special 
experience  with  educational  institutions — except  perhaps 
in  the  primary  grades — the  entrance  into  a  school  or 
college  especially  for  courses  in  any  way  irregular,  is  no 
mean  task.  All  the  more  reason  for  the  help  of  an  em- 
ployee in  so  doing.  There  is  a  saying  around  Cam- 
bridge (Massachusetts)  that  any  one  who  understands 
the  Harvard  College  catalogue  is  not  detained — he  is 
given  his  degree  at  once.  The  same  air  of  mystery  holds 
many  men  aloof  from  even  some  of  our  night  schools, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  are  designed  especially  for 
those  with  the  minimum  of  education. 

Of  course,  no  one  will  underestimate  the  difficulty  of 
making  a  man  or  woman  with  no  previous  experience 
with  educational  institutions  feel  as  much  at  home  in 
even  a  night  school  as  they  do  at  home  or  in  the  shop. 
But  the  trouble  is  not  always  just  there.  At  one  time  I 
was  responsible  for  the  work  of  a  man  who  collated 
the  figures  bearing  on  the  daily  analyses  of  a  city's  water 
supply.  There  was  enough  of  this  work  to  keep  one 
man  fully  occupied.     The  incumbent  felt  that  he  would 


3i8       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

be  better  fitted  for  his  task  if  he  could  study  bacteriology. 
I  gave  him  a  letter  to  a  professor  connected  with  a  dis- 
tinguished educational  institution  founded  some  150 
years  ago  by  an  eminent  American.  He  returned  to 
me  saying  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  him  to  pursue 
the  regular  course  providing  for  several  years  of  con- 
tinuous work  and  in  altogether  regular  hours.  This  of 
course  he  could  not  do.  I  then  introduced  him  to  a 
man  connected  with  the  same  institution  who  I  thought 
was  in  a  position  to  brush  away  some  of  these  difficulties. 
The  latter  advised  my  associate  that  it  would  be  neces- 
sary for  him  to  take  two  years  of  quantitative  and 
qualitative  chemistry  before  taking  up  bacteriology.  I 
then  picked  out  a  man  in  the  faculty  whose  personality 
was  such  as  to  lead  me  to  believe  that  he  would  take  a 
chance  on  my  man  and  dispense  with  unessential  con- 
ditions. When  he  found  the  seeker  after  bacteriological 
truth  was  56  years  old  he  intimated  to  him  Osier-fashion 
that  at  any  such  advanced  age  to  begin  the  accumula- 
tion of  this  kind  of  knowledge  was  a  hopeless  task.  I 
only  tell  this  story  to  show  that  progress  in  the  educa- 
tional training  of  those  in  the  city  service  is  somewhat 
conditioned  by  the  attitude  of  the  local  educational 
agencies. 

Helpful  Reactions  of  Public  Service  and  Local 
Schools. — There  is  no  existing  educational  agency 
that  I  know  which  cannot  be  utilized  in  some  measure 
in  training  those  already  within  the  public  service.  But 
I  rather  think  that  as  we  state  the  problem  more  and 
more  broadly  and  definitely,  entirely  new  types  of  out- 
side educational  agencies  will  be  developed  for  this  par- 
ticular field.  I  see  every  reason  to  believe,  for  instance, 
that  before  long  important  administrative  positions  will 


TRAINING  IN  THE  MUNICIPAL  SERVICE   319 

be  filled  in  our  municipalities  by  men  who  are  part-time 
professors  at  college  and  universities  specializing  in  some 
way  on  the  municipal  problem.  I  have  in  mind  here 
men  who  are  primarily  teachers  or  research  workers  and 
with  whom  the  direct  service  of  the  municipality  will 
probably  remain  subordinate.  There  would  be  no  es- 
sential difference  here  of  course  between  a  man  who 
gave  up  all  his  time  to  the  city  for  six  months  and  who 
then  taught  at  some  school  or  college  for  six  months 
and  one  who,  let  us  say,  gave  his  mornings  to  the  work 
at  City  Hall  and  his  afternoons  to  collegiate  work.  We 
have  tried  both  plans  in  a  small  way  and  they  proved 
equally  successful.  The  effect  of  any  such  plan  on  the 
problems  of  training  employees  will  be  obvious.  Is 
there  not  a  correspondingly  beneficial  effect  on  the 
teacher  who  thus  keeps  in  touch  with  real  problems  in  a 
real  world — outside  the  academic  cloister? 

Again  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  men  who 
are  regularly  in  the  city  service  and  are  planning  to  fol- 
low such  a  career  will  more  and  more  be  given  time  off 
— with  and  without  pay — to  go  to  specified  educational 
institutions  at  home  and  abroad  to  complete  the  studies 
required  for  the  proper  performance  of  their  duties. 
Municipal  practice  in  most  lines  has  been  almost  static 
up-to-date.  But  with  the  advance  of* general  knowledge 
and  the  greater  interest  in  this  field  on  the  part  of  busi- 
ness interests  and  research  workers,  we  must  prepare 
for  a  period  when  methods  and  implements  and  policies 
will  be  more  short  lived.  To  know  the  best  and  to  be 
able  to  practice  it  will  require  a  character  of  training  in 
the  municipal  employee  not  now  in  mind.  To  keep 
abreast  of  even  some  small  specialty  will  require  trav- 
eling about — perhaps  study  at  some  distant  point — and 
the  cities  of  the  future  which  will  be  most  highly  sue- 


320       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

cessful  will  be  the  ones  which  through  affording  oppor- 
tunities of  this  kind  attract  to  their  service  the  most 
desirable  men. 


The  Necessity  of  Organizing  Government  Demo- 
cratically.— All  that  type  of  legislation  symbolized  by 
the  short  ballot  which  has  had  for  its  object  the  locaHz- 
ing  of  administrative  responsibility  in  a  mayor  and  a 
limited  number  of  other  executives  has  had  one  effect 
which  if  we  would  train  and  develop  our  municipal  em- 
ployees as  a  whole  we  must  seek  to  offset.  In  moving 
for  fewer  heads  to  our  municipal  organization  we  are 
of  course  copying  the  organization  which  we  find  in 
most  industrial  enterprises.  Industry  does  not  pretend 
to  be  democratic,  but  our  municipal  organizations  must 
be.  It  is  one  thing  to  have  the  president  of  the  U.  S. 
Steel  Company  a  near-autocrat  in  all  its  affairs  wherever 
they  may  be  located  from  Pittsburgh  to  Vladivostok. 
But  it  would  be  an  entirely  different  matter  for  the 
mayor  of  a  city  or  its  controller  to  assume  any  such 
position.  In  a  democracy  such  powers  are  not  given  to 
any  branch  of  the  government — legislative,  judicial  or 
administrative. 

But  as  a  matter  of  fact,  to  a  very  large  extent  this 
is  what  has  happened  in  the  development  of  our  new 
administrative  personnel.  It  is  entirely  right  from  a 
management  standpoint  that  one  man  at  the  head  should 
have  large  power  in  making  and  unmaking  his  organiza- 
tion. It  is  right  that  he  should  be  as  responsible  to 
the  people  as  the  power  thus  given  implies.  But  we 
will  never  get  out  of  it  what  there  really  is  in  democratic 
government — municipal,  state  and  federal — until  the 
man  down  the  line  has  some  of  the  shackles  taken  off 
him  and  he  is  allowed  to  have  more  responsibility  in 


TRAINING  IN  THE  MUNICIPAL  SERVICE    321 

those  matters  which  are  his  particular  charge,  receives 
a  larger  share  of  the  credit  for  the  work  he  actually  does 
and  is  allowed  to  meet  directly  such  criticism  as  his 
work  may  arouse  and  without  having  his  statements  fil- 
tered through  three  or  four  "superiors"  who  frequently 
both  consciously  and  unconsciously  color  them  for  public 
consumption.  We  see  this  system  in  its  full  develop- 
ment in  the  average  private  utility  company,  where  no 
one  but  the  president  is  allowed  to  "talk."  Such  methods 
develop  mummies,  not  men. 

To  meet  this  condition — measurably  at  least — we  re- 
quested employees  of  all  grades  to  "talk"  to  the  news- 
papers and  to  our  citizens  generally  whenever  they  had 
news  which  it  was  to  the  interest  of  the  city  to  make 
public — if  it  fell  within  the  recognized  province  of  the 
person  giving  it  out.  In  other  words,  we  not  only  ap- 
preciated the  value  of  having  news  reach  the  people 
but  approved  of  its  reaching  the  public  through  the  arm 
of  the  government  most  closely  in  touch  with  it.  We 
made  the  request  of  course  that  action  along  this  Hne  be 
taken  only  when  the  employee  was  in  no  wise  in  doubt 
either  as  to  his  facts,  the  city's  interest  or  his  own  rela- 
tion to  the  matter.  Otherwise  he  was  to  consult.  In 
four  years  of  actual  use  nothing  but  good  came  of  this 
policy.  We  secured  a  large  volume  of  publicity  for  our 
work  and  instilled  into  every  man  in  the  service  a  new 
idea  as  to  his  relation  to  his  own  work. 

Again  we  requested  that  every  report  or  letter  written 
should  be  signed  by  the  person  drafting  it.  If  a  letter 
of  transmittal  was  necessary  this  could  be  written.  But 
those  in  responsible  charge  were  urged  not  to  assume 
credit  or  responsibility  for  work  not  their  own  through 
the  old-fashioned  procedure  of  forwarding  reports  up 
through  all  the  stages  of  a  military  organization.     It 


322       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

takes  time  to  make  progress  along  such  lines  but  we  will 
come  to  it.  When  we  do  finally  realize  this  idea  of 
personal  responsibility  then  to  serve  democracy  even 
pretty  far  down  the  line — and  of  course  to  serve  it  well 
— will  have  just  a  little  smack  of  Verdun  in  it. 

Another  change  in  the  same  direction  is  the  allowing  of 
the  public  with  their  complaints  and  requests  to  get  right 
to  the  man  who  has  charge  of  the  work.  Of  course  if  the 
mayor  or  a  commissioner  wants  to  make  the  people 
believe  he  is  personally  responsible  for  paving  this  or 
that  street,  for  making  individual  arrests  and  for  keep- 
ing microbes  out  of  the  drinking  water,  he  can  fool  a 
certain  number  of  his  constituents  but  it  is  not  good 
management,  but  it  does  not  tend  to  produce  a  well 
trained  body  of  city  employees. 

Finally  it  must  be  noted  that  even  in  industry  the  mili- 
tary and  autocratic  system  is  already  beginning  to  yield 
to  a  democratic  functionalized  regime.  The  necessity 
for  the  transference  of  skill  is  one  of  the  forces  bring- 
ing about  the  change.  And  in  this  new  regime  the  teach- 
ing function  will  be  one  of  the  most  prominent.  Under 
scientific  management  some  men  and  women  are  set 
aside  for  no  other  work  than  to  teach.  In  that  day — 
predicted  by  Rousseau  over  one  hundred  years  ago — 
when  education  becomes  the  one  great  absorbing  interest 
of  the  world,  there  are  some  of  us  who  believe  that  the 
difference  between  an  industrial  establishment  and  an 
educational  institution  will  not  be  very  great.  It  will 
make  for  economy  and  efficiency  to  bring  this  condition 
about  in  our  municipalities  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
PROFESSIONAL  ORGANIZATIONS  OF  CITY  OFFICIALS 

NOT  all  of  the  ills,  by  any  means,  of  defective  public 
service  are  due  to  political  corruption,  the  spoils 
system,  or  the  admission  of  untrained  men.  A  good  deal 
of  the  inefficiency  in  various  municipal  departments  may 
be  ascribed  to  the  fact  that  'the  men  are  trained  in  a 
groove.  As  Walter  Bagehot  excellently  pointed  out, 
in  criticizing  the  "experience"  of  trained  officials,  "They 
are  brought  young  into  the  particular  part  of  the  public 
service  to  -which  they  are  attached ;  they  are  occupied  for 
years  in  learning  its  forms — afterwards,  for  years  too, 
in  applying  these  forms  to  triffing  matters.  .  .  .  Men 
so  trained  must  come  to  think  of  the  routine  of  business 
not  as  a  means,  but  an  end — to  imagine  the  elaborate 
machinery  of  which  they  form  a  part,  and  from  which 
they  derive  their  dignity,  to  be  a  grand  and  achieved 
result,  not  a  working  and  changeable  instrument." 

The  Need  for  Professional  Organization. — The  fact 

that  a  city  street  has  carried  congested  traffic  for  a 
score  of  years  is  no  proof  that  the  city's  growth  does 
not  demand  more  streets  or  wider  ones.  And  the -fact 
that  certain  methods  in  departmental  administration 
have  served  an  indifferent  electorate  during  the  same 

323 


324        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

period  is  no  proof  that  modern  needs  to  not  require  new 
ideas  or  broader  ones. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  public  officials  in  town 
and  city  service  know  only  too  well  what  lack  of  vision 
and  of  initiative  exists  among  many  of  them.  Such 
characteristics  are  much  more  serious,  of  course,  in  the 
legislative  body  of  the  municipality  and  in  the  heads  of 
departments,  than  in  subordinate  employees.  The  build- 
ing of  adequate  streets  or  the  installing  of  a  modern 
office  system,  once  they  have  been  decided  upon,  may 
be  delegated  to  efficient  subordinates;  but  who  shall 
delegate  the  vision  and  initiative  for  these  improvements 
to  the  policy-determining  officials?  Who  is  to  tell  the 
mayor,  the  fire  chief,  or  the  water-works  official,  who 
may  have  served  twenty  years  at  his  present  position, 
that  his  methods  belong  to  a  previous  generation  ?  After 
all,  bureaus  of  research  are  very  few,  and  technical 
knowledge  in  high  places  is  scarce.  Moreover,  the 
"practical"  official  may  have  little  confidence  in  the 
"theoretical"  professors  of  the  universities,  and  may  be 
of  the  opinion  that  books  are  generally  "too  general." 
Reports  usually  serve  the  purpose  of  augmenting  the 
library  stock ;  and  though  the  reading  of  municipal  maga- 
zines has  become  much  more  general  during  the  last  few 
years,  other  stimuli  to  vision  and  action  are  needed. 

Learning  from  Catastrophe  and  from  the  Experience 
of  Others. — Fortunately,  it  is  not  true  of  all  municipal 
officials  that  they  learn  from  catastrophe,  rather  than 
from  the  experience  of  others.  But  it  is  true  that  until 
a  very  few  years  ago,  most  officials  were  in  such  a  posi- 
tion of  isolation  as  to  make  it  very  difficult  to  get  that 
inspiration  and  information  on  which  real  progress  de- 
pends.    There  were  needed  agencies  to  make  it  difficult 


PROFESSIONAL  ORGANIZATIONS       325 

for  the  official  to  be  backward;  there  was  needed  an 
aggressive  campaign  which  would  bring  the  newest  and 
best  in  each  field  to  the  attention  of  the  men  entrusted 
with  the  execution  of  important  municipal  activities. 
And,  for  the  advancement  of  municipal  administration, 
there  was  needed  that  contact,  cooperation  and  discus- 
sion among  its  workers  and  experts  that  would  react 
upon  the  profession  and  produce  successful  achieve- 
ments. 

A  significant  beginning  has  been  made  in  this  direction. 
With  the  rise  of  numerous  leagues  of  mayors,  city  man- 
agers, department  heads,  and  municipal  experts,  aggres- 
sively seeking  to  reduce  the  seclusion  of  their  respective 
cities,  constantly  bringing  to  light  new  discoveries  and 
presenting  comparative  results  in  municipal  efficiency, 
there  has  been  introduced  that  essential  element  previ- 
ously lacking  in  good  public  administration — the  train- 
ing of  those  who  already  are  city  officials.  The  methods 
of  organization  and  cooperation  among  these  professional 
associations  should  be  understood  by  every  person  inter- 
ested in  municipal  science.  Their  salient  features  will 
therefore  be  briefly  presented. 

Extent  and  Character  of  Membership. — Some  organ- 
izations are  international  (including  usually  the  United 
States  and  Canada),  some  national,  some  inter-state, 
many  are  state-wide,  many  include  parts  of  states,  and 
others  are  local.  Of  the  first  type  are  the  International 
Association  of  Fire  Engineers,  the  International  Asso- 
ciation of  Municipal  Electricians,  the  International  Asso- 
ciation of  Chiefs  of  Police,  and  the  Society  for  Street 
Cleaning  and  Refuse  Disposal  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada.  Some  of  the  "American"  or  "National"  asso- 
ciations— which  also  frequently  include  members  from 


326   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Canada — are  the  National  Municipal  League,  the  Ameri- 
can City  Planning  Institute,  the  American  Society  of 
Municipal  Improvements,  the  American  Public  Health 
Association,  the  American  Water  Works  Association, 
the  American  Association  of  Park  Superintendents,  the 
League  of  American  Municipalities,  the  Playground  and 
Recreation  Association  of  America,  the  National  Educa- 
tion Association  of  the  United  States,  the  National  Con- 
ference of  Charities  and  Correction,  the  American  Civic 
Association,  and  the  City  Managers'  Association.  There 
are  organizations  of  cemetery  officials,  road  builders, 
foresters,  consulting  engineers,  librarians,  "medical  milk" 
commissions,  and  many  others.  There  are  some  or- 
ganizations vi^hose  membership  includes  the  officials  of 
certain  groups  or  states,  as  for  example,  the  Mayors' 
Association  of  the  South  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States. 
Other  associations  including  groups  of  states  are  sec- 
tional parts  of  national  organizations,  as  the  Central 
States  Division  of  the  American  Water  Works  Associ^ 
tion.  Associations  whose  membership  is  limited  to  offi- 
cials within  the  state  are  very  numerous  and  varied. 
There  are,  for  instance,  "Leagues  of  Municipalities"  in 
at  least  three  fourths  of  the  states,  and  in  some  of  the 
states  there  are  such  organizations  as  the  Massachusetts 
Association  of  Boards  of  Public  Health,  the  New  Jersey 
Sewage  Works  Association,  the  California  Conference 
on  City  Planning,  etc.  Within  the  state,  there  are  some- 
times district  associations,  as  the  North  Idaho  Munici- 
pality League,  and  organizations  of  classified  member- 
ship, as  the  League  of  Cities  of  the  Third  Class  in  Penn- 
sylvania. There  are  also  local  organizations  of  road 
engineers  or  other  officials  within  a  county,  etc.  They 
indicate  that  the  public  service  is  recognized  as  a  pro- 


PROFESSIONAL  ORGANIZATIONS        327 

fession,  and  that  professional  interests  are  drawing  the 
men  together. 

As  a  rule,  there  are  two  kinds  of  members  in  these 
oganizations,  viz.,  those  who  are  officials  or  ex-officials, 
and  those  who  are  experts  in  the  profession  or  activity, 
and  whose  advice  and  cooperation  will  be  of  service.  In 
some  organizations,  there  is  an  associate  membership 
which  comprises  manufacturers,  contractors,  and  "supply 
men."  In  many  cases,  the  unofficial  group  predominates. 
Wide  differences  in  aggressiveness  are  apparent.  Some 
of  the  state  organizations,  under  the  leadership  of  effi- 
cient secretaries,  are  larger  both  in  membership  and 
income  than  other  organizations  of  national  scope. 

Annual  Meetings  and  Conventions. — The  most  im- 
portant feature  of  these  professional  organizations  is 
usually  their  annual  meeting.  At  some  of  these  conven- 
tions, the  social  features  are  allotted  time  and  attention 
out  of  proper  proportion  to  the  serious  purposes  for 
which  the  gathering  is  nominally  called,  but  in  general 
a  notable  improvement  in  this  matter  has  been  observed 
in  recent  years.  Indeed,  there  has  been  in  some  in- 
stances a  tendency  to  the  other  extreme.  Convention 
sessions  morning,  afternoon  and  evening,  punctuated 
only  by  serious  discussions  at  "round  table"  luncheons  or 
at  group  conferences,  may  prove  to  be  not  only  more 
tiresome,  but  actually  less  profitable  than  a  less  intensive 
program. 

A  mistake  frequently  made  by  program  committees 
is  failure  to  allow  adequate  opportunity  for  discussion 
of  papers  from  the  floor.  The  practical  value  of  a  con- 
vention depends  not  only  on  the  value  of  the  ideas 
brought  out  at  the  meeting,  but  also  in  the  attention 
given  to  them.     In  both  of  these  respects  informal  dis- 


328       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

cussions  and  the  "question  box"  are  often  superior  to 
formal  papers.  They  serve  to  emphasize  both  sides  of 
mooted  questions,  and  to  give  officials  and  "experts"  a 
host  of  new  ideas.  Both  groups  hear  ineffective 
methods  knocked  to  pieces,  and  are  told  of  the  great  suc- 
cess of  newer  or  better  ideas. 

Exhibits  of  apparatus  and  appliances  are  important 
features  of  many  conventions.  Like  the  advertising 
pages  of  municipal  magazines,  their  object  is  to  increase 
the  sale  of  the  manufacturers'  products,  but  they  have  an 
educational  value  which  should  not  be  overlooked.  Grov- 
ernmental  efficiency  in  most  city  departments  is  depen- 
dent on  the  use  of  efficient  machinery  and  equipment; 
and  the  city  official  is  not  profiting  fully  by  a  convention 
if  he  fails  to  give  adequate  study  to  the  exhibit  features. 

Municipal  and  civic  conventions  are  occasionally  timed 
to  bring  together  at  the  same  place  groups  occupying 
allied  fields  of  activity.  A  notable  example  is  "Munic- 
ipal Week,"  held  in  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  Novem- 
ber, 1 916,  when  the  following  associations  met  during 
the  same  week :  the  National  Municipal  League,  the  New 
York  Training  School  for  Public  Service,  City  Man- 
agers' Association,  Conference  on  Municipal  Research, 
Massachusetts  Civic  League,  Massachusetts  Federa- 
tion of  Planning  Boards,  Massachusetts  Single  Tax 
League  and  the  Western  New  England  Chamber  of 
Commerce.  As  a  result  of  such  correlation  between 
organizations  of  similar  interests,  opportunity  is  pro- 
vided to  acquire  information  and  ideas  of  great  value  to 
the  cause  of  municipal  progress. 

Publications  of  the  Organizations. — Usually  the 
proceedings  of  the  conventions,  including  papers,  ques- 
tions,  and  discussions,   are  published  and   sent  out  to 


PROFESSIONAL  ORGANIZATIONS       329 


330       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

members  without  additional  charge.  Thus  members 
who  are  interested  may  reconsider  at  their  leisure  the 
facts  and  ideas  brought  out  at  the  convention,  and  those 
who  were  not  present  may  get  the  benefit  of  the  pro- 
ceedings. Besides  the  publication  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  convention,  there  are  official  magazines,  bulletins, 
pamphlets  and  other  printed  matter  available  for  mem- 
bers or  subscribers,  the  amount  of  such  matter  depend- 
ing, of  course,  on  the  size  and  importance  of  the  organi- 
zation. 

Information  Service. — Many  leagues  and  organiza- 
tions make  provision  for  supplying  members  with  infor- 
mation on  subjects  coming  within  their  scope.  A  ques- 
tionnaire recently  sent  out  to  state  leagues  of  municipali- 
ties showed  that  this  was  considered  an  extremely  useful 
feature  of  their  work.  Where  the  importance  of  this 
information  service  is  appreciated  and  funds  for  the 
establishment  of  a  special  bureau  are  not  available,  the 
secretary  is  the  one  assigned  to  render  this  service. 
Discriminate  choice  of  the  man  who  is  to  fill  this  office 
may  be  made,  as,  for  instance,  where  the  league  of  munic- 
ipalities of  a  stat-e  chooses  as  its  secretary  the  librarian 
of  a  municipal  reference  library — or  the  director  of  a 
bureau  of  municipal  research  at  the  state  university. 
Many  other  schemes  for  securing  cooperative  service  in 
running  the  information  bureau  are  in  vogue.  Quite 
often,  the  political  science  and  economics  department  of 
the  extension  division  of  a  local  university  is  pressed 
into  service,  and  both  professors  and  the  advanced  stu- 
dents assist  the  secretary,  or  the  municipal  reference 
library  agrees  to  offer  its  services  in  answering  all  ques- 
tions addressed  to  it. 

The  secretary  of  one  of  the  state  leagues  of  munici- 


PROFESSIONAL  ORGANIZATIONS        331 

palities,  who  is  at  the  same  time  the  secretary  of  the 
municipal  reference  library  of  the  state  university,  has 
compiled  an  excellent  report  of  his  activities  which  is 
well  worth  simimarizing.^  Within  a  period  of  twelve 
months,  a  total  of  472  inquiries  and  requests  were  an- 
swered, of  which  333  were  from  persons  within  the 
state.  Of  these  333  inquiries,  295  were  from  members 
of  the  league,  and  252  from  city  officials.  Another  class- 
ification of  these  333  questions  showed  that  30  were 
from  cities  of  the  first  class,  105  from  cities  of  the  sec- 
ond class,  and  198  from  those  of  the  third,  indicating 
conclusively  that  the  information  bureau  was  serving 
places  where  the  absence  of  library  facilities,  etc.,  makes 
information  inaccessible.  In  addition  to  the  furnishing 
of  information,  which  in  many  cases  required  difficult 
compilations,  the  service  included  the  drafting  of  ordi- 
nances, ballot  forms  and  resolutions.  A  complete  list 
of  the  subjects  upon  which  the  questions  were  based  is 
included  in  the  report,  which  shows  the  interest  in  the 
subjects  of  traffic  regulation,  commission  government, 
electric  light  plants,  sidewalks,  water-works,  alleys,  pub- 
lic utility  rates,  etc.  With  such  service  at  the  disposal 
of  any  member  who  merely  writes  for  it,  there  is  added 
another  aid  to  efficient  administration. 


Summary:  Professional  Organizations  Are  Continuation 

Schools 

In  brief  summary  of  the  ideals  and  methods  of  these 
professional  organizations,  it  may  be  said  that  they  aim 
to  serve  as  continuation  schools  for  men  who  have  been 
graduated  from  college  or  from  business  or  professional 

*C/.  also  Exhibit  17  of  the  Report  upon  the  Survey  of  the 
University  of  Wisconsin. 


Z2>2        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

pursuits  into  the  public  service.  Through  contact,  dis- 
cussion and  publicity,  such  organizations,  like  the  Biblical 
householder,  bring  forth  out  of  their  treasures  things 
new  and  old.  They  help  to  secure  the  adoption  of 
modern  ideas,  while  preventing  the  rejection  of  older 
methods  which  have  stood  the  test  of  time.  Through 
their  research  bureaus  they  compile  information  not 
previously  correlated.  They  not  only  make  information 
accessible,  but  aid  in  putting  it  to  work  by  arousing  a 
healthy  spirit  of  emulation  among  their  members.  They 
bring  the  non-technical  city  official  into  contact  with  the 
technical  man  to  the  real  advantage  of  both. 

Not  the  least  valuable  service  rendered  by  organiza- 
tions of  city  officials  is  their  educational  influence  on 
legislatures  and  courts  in  matters  relating  to  home  rule, 
simplified  charters,  city  planning,  etc.  Many  instances 
might  be  cited  of  progressive  legislation  enacted  on  the 
recommendation  of  leagues  of  municipalities;  and  it  can 
hardly  be  doubted  that  the  spread  of  modern  ideas  among 
associations  of  mayors  and  other  city  officials  is  having 
a  reflex  action  in  the  more  liberal  attitude  of  the  courts 
towards  statutes  and  ordinances  for  the  promotion  of 
public  health,  safety  and  welfare. 

Matthew  Arnold,  in  his  "Culture  and  Anarchy,"  quotes 
two  excellent  rules  of  Bishop  Wilson:  "Firstly,  never 
go  against  the  best  light  you  have;  secondly,  take  care 
that  your  light  be  not  darkness."  When  these  two  rules 
shall  be  adopted  generally  as  the  guiding  principles  of 
city  government,  the  municipal  millennium  will  be  at 
hand.  The  professional  organizations  of  city  officials 
are  helping,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  to  instill  these 
ideas  into  the  hearts  and  minds  of  their  members.  They 
stimulate  the  desire  to  render  better  service,  and  they 
help  to  make   available   the  knowledge   of   how   much 


PROFESSIONAL  ORGANIZATIONS        333 

service  can  best  be  performed.  As  a  result,  many  a 
city  is  saved  experimentation  in  methods  that  have  been 
found  inadequate  elsewhere,  and  many  problems  are 
worked  out  in  cooperation  that  would  be  long  delayed 
if  studied  in  isolation. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE  CONTROL  OF  THE  EXPERT 

'TPHE  real  founder  of  American  democracy,  Andrew 
■*-  Jackson,  said  long  ago:  "The  duties  of  all  public 
officefs  are^  or  at  least  admit  of  being  made,  so  plain 
and  simple  that  men  of  intelligence  may  readily  qualify 
themselves  for  their  performance."  This  was  the  seri- 
ous opinion  of  a  strong  and  able  man  who  typified 
American  versatility  in  acquiring  military  skill  and  in 
rising  from  obscure  poverty  to  the  highest  office  in  the 
nation.  For  his  day  Jackson  was  not  far  wrong.  He 
wrote  before  the  railway,  the  electric  light,  the  tele- 
phone, the  telegraph,  and  in  fact  before  practically  all 
of  the  great  technical  achievements  of  our  time  had 
revolutionized  American  life.  The  largest  cities  were 
relatively  little  more  than  rural  villages.  Almost  any  in- 
telligent man  could  look  after  the  town  pump,  the  vil- 
lage streets,  and  the  county  poor  house.  Aside  from 
the  surveying  and  the  engineering  work  of  the  army 
and  navy,  there  were  few  government  enterprises  that 
called  for  men  versed  in  any  of  the  sciences.  In  fact, 
most  of  the  highly  specialized  sciences  of  our  day  were 
not  yet  within  the  ken  of  the  wisest  men.  Yet  this  was 
the  age  which  saw  the  rise  of  democracy  in  the  United 
States.  It  was  in  Jackson's  day  that  the  old  expert 
governing  class  represented  by  the  Federalists  of  the 

334 


THE  CONTROL  OF.  THE  EXPERT        335 

Hamilton  school  and  the  Republicans  of  the  Madison 
school  were  utterly  rej-ected,  and  government  committed 
to  the  care  of  an  electorate  embracing  practically  all  of 
the  adult  white  males  without  regard  to  property  or  any 
other  tests.  In  that  generation  were  set  the,  standards 
of  democracy  which  have  become  enduring  parts  of 
American  custom  and  tradition.  To  this  custom  and 
tradition  any  one  who  has  occasion  to  write  or  speak  ■ 
about  problems  of  American  life  and  government  must 
give  heed. 

The  Needs  of  Modem  Democracy. — And  yet  the. 
most  unbending  advocate  of  Jacksonian  democracy  will  \  i 
not  deny  that  the  responsibilities  of  government  have 
been  completely  revolutionized  since  "the  reign  of 
Andrew."  In  an  epoch  when  the  government  regulates 
railway  rates,  fixes  hours  of  labor,  controls  the  capital- 
ization of  public  service  corporations,  undertakes  social 
insurance,  builds  Panama  canals,  operates  great  water- 
works, establishes  municipal  railway  plants,  to  talk  about 
the  duties  of  public  offices  being  so  sirnple  that  any 
maiv  of  iriteTngence~catrTeadily  qualify" lor  tHelfils  not 
merely  absurd;  it  is  criminal  foIIyr'"Th  an  epoch  when 
the  government,  in  tact,  employs  expert  accountants, 
architects,  bacteriologists,  chemists,  engineers  of  all 
varieties,  foresters,  oculists,  pathologists,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  other  classes  of  civil  servants,  it  is  obviously  im- 
possible for  any  man  of  intelligence  to  prepare  for  any  ^/^v 
public  office  in  a  few  months.  It  is  true  that  once  uT^ 
a  while  an  ambitious  legislator  proposes  to  make  the 
circumference  of  every  circle  merely  three  times  the 
diameter  instead  of  3.1416  times — in  order  to  make 
calculations  easier  for  farmers — but  in  the  main,  even 
democracy  must  admit  that  the  man  who  constructs  an 


11  ii 


336   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

electric  light  plant  for  a  city  must  know  several  things 
which  "an  intelligent  man"  cannot  "pick  up"  in  a  short 
time. 

To  drive  this  point  home,  it  is  only  necessary  to  turn 
over  the  announcements  of  the  United  States  civil  ser- 
vice commission  and  read  the  qualifications  set  for 
candidates  for  even  minor  positions  in  the  federal  gov- 
ernment.  To  take  a  single  example,  the  following  speci- 
fications were  set  by  the  commission  for  an  examination 
for  a  mere  assistant  civil  engineer  held  in  November, 
1916: 

(i)  Mathematics  and  applied  mechanics  (covering  alge- 
bra to  and  including  problems  involving  quadratics;  geom- 
etry, plane  and  solid;  plane  trigonometry  and  use  of  tables 
of  logarithms  or  a  slide  rule;  elements  of  calculus;  and 
elementary  questions  involving  principles  of  mechanics  and 
hydraulics  as  set  forth  in  college  textbooks). 

(2)  Theory  and  practice  of  construction  on  land  and  in 
water  (involving  elementary  knowledge  of  designing  and 
constructing  highways,  railroad  dams,  retaininp^  walls,  foun- 
dation work,  trusses,  etc.). 

(3)  Theory  and  practice  of  topographic  and  hydro- 
graphic  surveying,  as  covered  in  first-clas>»>  surveying  text- 
books. 

(4)  Training  and  experience. 

(5)  Applicants  must  have  had  at  least  four  years'  prac- 
tical experience  in  engineering.  Graduation  from  a  tech- 
nical course  in  a  college  or  university  of  recognized  stand- 
ing will  be  accepted  in  lieu  of  two  years  of  the  required  ex- 
perience. The  rating  in  training  and  experience  will  be 
based  upon  general  experience  in  civil  engineering,  and  upon 
technical  description  in  detail  of  some  important  work  upon 
which  the  competitor  has  been  engaged.  This  description 
must  be  handed  to  the  examiner  on  the  day  of  the  exam- 
ination. 


THE  CONTROL  OF  THE  EXPERT   337 

Although  the  materials  are  not  at  hand  to  make  an 
exact  comparison  of  the  public  service  to-day  and 
seventy-five  years  ago,  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  an 
ever  larger  proportion  of  public  work  calls  for  servants 
who  have  had  years  of  technical  training  and  wide  ex- 
perience in  highly  specialized  operations.  We  cannot 
pick  up  "Tom,  Dick,  Harry,  and  Will"  through  the 
agency  of  a  genial  legislator  or  through  an  advertise- 
ment in  a  Daily  Gazette,  and  entrust  the  work  of  govern- 
ment to  them.  Moreover,  technical  specialists,  in  order 
that  they  may  serve  the  government  most  efficiently, 
should  have  long  tenure  and  the  service  should  be  so 
arranged  that  they  may  look  to  the  public  rather  than 
to  powerful  private  interests  for  their  careers.  If  de-' 
mocracy  is  to  be  well  served  by  trained  specialists,  it 
must  so  order  its  methods  of  employment  that  its  ser- 
vants will  find  advancement  by  cherishing  the  public 
interest  instead  of  by  neglecting,  purposely  or  inadver- 
tently, that  interest  in  favor  of  private  concerns.  A 
permanent  as  well  as  a  highly  technical  service  is  called 
for  by  the  requirements  of  modern  democracy.  With- 
out such  a  service  democracy  cannot  discharge  the  obli- 
gations inevitably  imposed  upon  it  by  time  and  circum- 
stance. This  is  so  inexorable  that  argument  on  the 
point  is  useless. 


le  '      / 


The  Dangers  of  Bureaucracy. — Nevertheless,  it 
would  be  a  cheerful  optimist,  indeed,  who  could  see  no 
dangers  to  democracy  in  a  large  and  permanent  public 
service  performing  operations  so  highly  technical  in 
character  that  the  layman  cannot  understand  even  the 
simplest  of  them.  Every  one  knows  the  evils  of 
bureaucracy — routine,  multiplication  of  useless  positions, 
red  tape,  and  official  follies.     Every  class  tends  to  exalt 


338       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

itself  and  its  work.  This  is  as  true  of  official  classes 
as  of  other  classes.  Where  there  is  power  there  are 
philosophers  to  praise  and  defend.  Even  bureaucracy- 
has  contemptjor  the  layman. It  takes  undue  pride  in 
its  own  achievements.  It  is  impervious  to  new  ideas 
^^1  arise  outside  of  the  circle  o£  the  "experts."  It 
despises  the  amateur  and  constantly  aver?  that  no  good 
can  come  out  of  lay  thinking  and  advice.  It  thrives  on 
the  spirit  of  monopoly  and  constantly  seeks  to  raise 
the  barriers  between  itself  and  the  uninitiated. 

</'^iih  all  this,  American  democracy  is  familiar. 
American  institutions  are  in  a  large  measure  shaped 
^with  reference  to  the  dangers  of  bureaucracy.  Rotation 
in  office  and  popular  election,  even  of  engineers  and 
veterinarians,  are  merely  signs  of  fear.  Having  rejected 
the  rule  of  an  aristocracy  of  birth  and  wealth  with  pre- 
tensions to  a  special  qualification  for  governing,  Ameri- 
can democracy  has  taken  unto  itself  extreme  confidence 
in  the  capacity  of  the  masses  to  select  periodically  from 
their  own  number  of  biologists,  engineers,  and  chemists 
to  do  the  technical  work  of  government.  President 
Wi]son  therefore  awakened  a  cordial  response  in  the 
popular  mind  when  he  declared  that  he  did  not  want  the 
assistance  of  any  "smug  experts,"  even  though  he  was 
compelled  to  deny  his  pronounced  faith  when  face  to 
face  with  the  problems  of  a  tariff  commission,  a  ship- 
ping board,  and  the  eight-hour  investigation.  Perhaps, 
however,  he  can  make  a  plea  in  abatement  by  saying 
that  he  trusts  "experts'"  but  not^l!^mug.jexperts/'  This 
IS  after  all  a  mere  matter  of  verbiage.  The  most  pro- 
nounced  enemy  of  the  poor  despised  "expert"  is  the 
first  to  run  to  him  for  as^jstapce  in  an  hour  or  real  need. 
'  Even  in  the  matter  of  budget  making,  about  which 
there  is  so  much  loose  and  frenzied  talking -and  thinking, 


THE  CONTROL  OF  THE  EXPERT    339 

the  same  problems  arise.     Democracy  owes  much  of  its 

power  to   its   "control   over  the  purse,"   but   in   every^ 

Jarge    and    complicated   gnve.rnment>_the-_jH'D_blems    QJ^ 

budget-making  are  utterly  beyond  the  ken  of  the  average 


sixty-day  legislator,  no  matter  how  conscientious  he 
piay  b6,,  Itt"  the,  uly  of 'ivJew  York  the  budget  is 
nominally  made  by  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Appor- 
tionment and  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  elected  bodies  re- 
sponsible to  the  voters,  but  any  one  acquainted  with  the 
facts  knows  that  the  budget  is  really  made  by  a  handful 
of  obscure  experts  serving  the  subcommittee  of  the  Board 
of  Estimate  and  Apportionment.  The  adjustment  of 
salary  and  wages  schedules,  the  purchase  of  immense 
quantities  of  supplies  of  every  kind  ranging  from 
radium  to  potatoes,  the  supervision  of  highly  spe- 
cialized contracts — all  this  is  too  much  for  the  kindly 
member  of  the  board  of  aldermen  who  marches  to 
the  city  hall  once  a  week  and  then  marches  home  ^ 
again.  The  unpalatable  truth  is  that  in  spite  of  our 
vaunted  democracy,  a  few  always  rule  in  every  gov- 
ernmental jurisdiction  with  compHcated  functions.  X 
The  problem  of  democracy  is  not  how  to  "raid  the 
)  invisible  government"  every  year  or  two,  but  how  to 
{make  it  come  out  into  the  open  and  assume  responsi- 
i  bilil 


Rising  Popular  Intelligence  and  Independent  Ex- 
perts.— If  this  analysis  is  correct,  then  no  sleight  of 
hand  performance  will  do  the  simple  trick  of  reconciling  x  a 
democracy  and  expert  service.  Our  hope  lies  not  in  '  ^•^^''^ 
one  thing  but  in  many.  First  among  these  I  would  place 
the  rising  intelligence  of  laymen  which  enables  them 
to  exercise  independent  and  critical  judgment  about  the 
achievements  of  the  expert.     The  steady  refusal  of  the 


340        EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

public  to  accept  the  final  verdict  of  educational  experts 
is  a  cheering  sign.  Closely  connected  with  the  rising 
intelligence  of  laymen  are  the  citizens'  agencies  which 
develop  independent  critics  of  the  work  of  government. 
A  bureaucracy  which  can  never  be  disturbed  by  citizens' 
inquiry  is  secure  indeed,  no  matter  who  votes.     Highly 

I  specialized  civic  agencies  in  various  fields  now  support 
j)rivate  experts  to  watch  public  experts.  This  is  one 
;  of  the  most  encouraging  signs  of  modern  democracy. 
With  independent  citizens,  agencies  and  universities,  and 
chools  not  under  the  immediate  domination  of  the 
overnment  bureaucracy,  we  may  be  sure  that  the  voice 
f  criticism  will  be  heard  in  the  land.  In  moving  for- 
ward to  a  permanent  and  expert  public  service  we  are 
not  returning  to  the  privileged  bureaucracy  of  Frederick 
the  Great.  In  other  words,  the  whole  intellectual  medi- 
um in  which  the  modern  public  service  operates  is 
radically  different  from  that  of  a  century  ago. 

Lay  Control  of  Experts.^ — There  are  some  who  place 
much  faith  in  the  idea  of  associating  boards  of  laymen 
with  technical  experts  for  the  purpose  of  introducing 
the  citizen  element  and  citizen  control.  It  is  hardly  to 
be  said,  however,  that  experience  with  this  practice  is 
altogether  encouraging.  There  is  plenty  of  evidence  to 
show  that  the  faith  has  been  more  than  once  misplaced. 
This  is  the  theory  of  the  commission-manager  city  gov- 
ernment, but  in  some  cities  at  least,  it  has  worked  out 
that  the  commission  of  laymen  has  surrendered  its  think- 
ing to  the  manager  who  is  "on  the  job  all  day."  Lay 
school  boards  are  quite  frequently  mere  "rubber 
stamps."     If  they  are  not,  it  is  because  a  few  patriotic 

Mt  is  an  excellent  thing  to  raise  this  point,  but  is  not  Pro- 
fessor Beard  a  little  too  skeptical? 


THE  CONTROL  OF  THE  EXPERT   341 

members  surrender  their  private  obligations  and  pay 
the  price  of  becoming  expert.  The  point  is  not  that  the 
lay  board  should  be  utterly  rejected,  but  that  reliance 
upon  it  as  an  effective  instrument  of  day-to-day  control 
over  the  expert  in  the  public  service  is  reliance  upon  a 
bent  reed.  The  guess  might  be  safely  hazarded  that 
the  waste,  inefficiency,  and  jobbery  connected  with  state 
institutions  nominally  managed  by  boards  of  laymen 
will  equal  that  arising  in  offices  controlled  by  even 
irresponsible  "experts."  The  lay  board^  is  not  the  solu- 
tion of  the  problem. 

Public  Hearings  and  the  Control  of  the  Expert. — 

The  "public  hearing"  is  the  hope  of  a  few  advocates 
who  expect  wonders  when  the  plain  citizen  is  given  an 
opportunity  to  "get  at  the  public  officer"  when  he  is 
asking  for  more  money  or  giving  a  record  of  his  per- 
formances. The  public  hearing  is  a  useful  institution, 
but  it  has  about  the  same  relation  to  effective  power 
that  the  right  of  petition  has  to  the  right  of  voting. 
Most  public  hearings  are^aLsh^^^jwaste  of., t^^^ 
they  jprbduce^o  results.  The  Edge  budget  bill  in  New 
Jersey  provides  for  public  hearings  by  the  governor  on 
departmental  requests.  The  sole  attendant  at  most  of 
the  hearings  in  19 16  was  a  student  of  government  inter- 
ested in  the  working  out  of  the  plan.  The  budget 
hearings  in  New  York  City  are  quite  commonly  monopo- 
^  lized  by  citizens  with  more  verbosity  than  enlightenment 
to  exploit  their  petty  hobbies.  They  have  practically  no 
effect  upon  the  budget-making  process.  By  all  means 
let  us  have  public  hearings.  They  seldom  do  any  harm 
and  occasionally  they^do  some  good.  But  to  rely  upon 
them  to  cohtrbl"  experts,  is  like  Relying  on  pop-guns  to 
destroy  battleships.     In  this  connection  it  seems  hardly 


342       EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

necessary  to  remark  that  most  legislative  "investigations" 
are  mere  farces,  at  least  as  agencies  for  exercising  con- 
tinuous control  over  a  service  with  bureaucratic  ten- 
dencies. They  are  useful  in  satisfying  public  clamor 
and  holding  the  ship  of  state  on  even  keel  while  some 
popular  temper  is  sweeping  over  the  country.  By  all 
means  let  us  have  "committees  of  inquiry,"  but  let  us 
put  little  faith  in  them  as  instruments  of  democratic 
control. 

The  Real  Solution :  Unite  Power  and  Responsibility. 
— The  real  solution  of  the  problem  set  by  the  title  of  this 
paper  is  not  in  some  simple  device  such  as  a  lay  board 
or  a  public  hearing.     It  calls  for  a  complex  operation. 
It  calls  for  institutional  changes  and  political  practices 
Nj^hat  will  unite  power  and  responsibility.     Responsibility 
cannot  be  maintained,  if  power  is  not  granted  to,  and  defi- 
nitely vested  in,  public  officers  who  can  be  held  account- 
able.    No  amount  of   citizens*  agency  work  or  public 
hearings  can  take  the  place  of  responsible  representative 
^\government.     Technical  experts  must  be  employed  and 
/their  permanence  of  tenure  assured,  but  they  must  be 
\  I  sjo^organizedthat  their  lines  of  re_sj>onsibility  to  political 
^.officers  can  be  clearly  traced.    The  political  officers  on 
their  part  must  be  brought  face  to  face  with  a  legislative 
body  so  constituted  and  so  organized  as  to  make  inquiry 
and  opposition  critical,  effective,  and  responsible.     This 
means  that  the  way  must  be  opened  to  executive  leader- 
ship through  the  medium  of  legislative  activity. 

Under  the  present  system,  the  average  member  of  the 
legislature  is  a  mere  amateur.  His  term  is  short,  his 
hopes  are  pale,  and  his  critical  faculties  useless.  If 
perchance  he  has  real  talent  for  understanding  the  ad- 
ministration for  which  he  is  providing  funds,  it  is  of 


THE  CONTROL  OF  THE  EXPERT    343 

slight  use  to  him.  He  may  criticize  without  fear  and 
without  reproach  because  he  knows  that  he  will  never 
be  obligated  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  the  officer 
whom  he  is  denouncing. 

A  Program. — A  system  of  government  that  will  rec- 
concile  democracy  and  expert  administration  must  pro- 
vide for  the  following  institutions  and  processes: 

An  executive  department  so  organized  that  responsi- 
bility may  be  located  in  a  small  group  of  officers. 

All  the  institutions  and  divisions  grouped  under  the 
direction  of  these  officers  and  controlled  by  a  work  pro- 
gram and  a  budget  system  that  will  require  records  of 
work  performed  and  costs  by  units  of  performance. 

A  permanent  civil  service  and  a  system  of  perma- 
nent tmder  secretaries  to  sustain  continuity  of  policy. 

The  executive  branch  held  responsible  for  preparing 
thfijbiidget  and  subjectedT  to~open  and  above  board  legis- 
lative scrutiny.  

Effective  use  of  the  opposition  as  an  agency  of  critical 
control  and  provision  for  assumption  of  responsibility 
by  those  who  criticize  and  overturn  the  administration. 

Provision  for  submitting  to  the  electorate  for  final 
decision  all  fundamental  issues  raised  and  formulated 
by  those  defending  and  those  attacking  a  particular  ad- 
ministration. 

Summary 

In  other  words,  representative  government  must  be 
made  responsible  government.  Democracy  cannot  con- 
trol through  hearings  and  lay  boards  or  citizens*  agencies 
— however  helpful  these  may  be  as  auxiliaries.  It  can- 
not only  control  through  representatives  entrusted  with 
power   and   held   strictly  accountable   for   its   exercise. 


W 


344   EXPERTS  IN  CITY  GOVERNMENT 

Unless  we  are  prepared  to  consider  some  fundamental 
institutional  changes,  we  might  as  well  surrender  the 
quest  for  popular  control  over  the  expert.  He  has  and 
will  continue  to  control  democracYj,_no  rnatter  whether  he 
is  a  political  or  a  scientific  specialist.  Invisible  govern- 
ment will  continue  until  we  are  willing  to  vest  in  a  visible 
government  the  same  amount  of  power  that  we  permit 
the  invisible  government  to  exercise. 


APPENDIX 
CITY  MANAGER  ''MORTALITY  DATA" 

The  mortality  rate  attending  the  office  of  city  manager 
is  proving  fairly  high  due  to  three  factors :  ( i )  The 
lack  of  training  or  of  tact  of  many  men  who  enter  the  new 
profession  is  such  that  they  find  themselves,  or  are  found 
by  their  Councils,  to  be  unqualified  for  the  complex  du- 
ties facing  them  on  the  new  field.  (2)  The  rapid  pro- 
motion that  has  come  to  many,  causing  their  change 
from  one  city  to  another.  (3)  The  Call  to  the  Colors 
has  tended  to  thin  the  ranks  of  the  profession. 

An  examination  of  the  records  shows  that  of  the  124 
cities  now  claiming  some  variety  of  city-manager  govern- 
ment only  48  are  still  retaining  the  services  of  the  men 
first  appointed  to  the  managerial  position.  Of  these  48, 
31  have  served  less  than  two  years,  4  have  served  from 
two  to  three  years,  6  from  three  to  four  years,  4  from 
four  to  five  years,  and  only  3  over  five  years. 

So  far  there  have  been  seventeen  instances  of  promo- 
tion of  managers  from  one  city  to  another,  and  in  two 
cases  managers  have  already  been  advanced  to  their  third 
city. 

Charles  E.  Ashbumer,  the  first  of  the  city  managers, 
served  at  Staunton,  Va.,  from  1908  to  191 1  at  $2500;  he 
was  appointed  manager  of  Springfield,  Qhio.  January  i, 
1 914,  at  $6000,  and  was  promoted  to  Norfolk,  Va.,  Sept. 
I,  1918;  salary,  $9000. 

345 


346  APPENDIX 

Ossian  E.  Carr  was  manager  of  Cadillac,  Mich.,  dur- 
ing the  years  191 4  and  191 5;  salary,  $3000.  He  was 
called  to  Niagara  Falls,  N,.„Y.,  January,  1916,  salary 
$5000,  and  succeeded  Mr.  Ashburner  at  Springfield,  Qhifl, 
September,  1918. 

Gaylord  C.  Cummin  was  appointed  manager  of  Jack- 
son, Mich.,  January,  191 5,  at  $5cxx);  this  was  increased 
the  year  following  to  $6000,  then  to  $7500,  and  he  was 
promoted  to  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  in  the  spring  of  191 7 
at  a  salary  of  $10,000. 

Winton  L.  Miller  served  as  manager  of  St.  Augus- 
tine, Fla.,  from  July,  1915,  to  April,  1918,  salary  $3600; 
he  is  now  manager  of  Bethlehem,  Pa.  His  official  salary 
is  $1  per  year,  but  it  is  understood  that  he  is  receiving 
$10,000  through  the  generosity  of  the  mayor  and  the 
council. 

Robert  A.  Craig  was  promoted  from  Phoenix,  Ariz., 
where  he  served  from  April,  1914,  to  January,  1918,  at 
$5000,  to  Santa  Barbara,  Cal.,  at  $7500. 

Clarence  A.  Bingham  entered  the  manager  field  at 
Norwood,  Mass.,  January,  191 5,  at  $2400  salary.  This 
was  later  increased  to  $3000  and  he  was  promoted  Janu- 
ary I,  to  Waltham,  Mass.,  salary  $5000. 

Charles  E.  Hewes  was  transferred  from  Alhambra 
to  Alameda,  Cal.,  in  May,  19 17.  He  served  at  Alham- 
bra two  years  at  $2000  and  now  receives  $4000. 

H.  G.  Otis  was  appointed  manager  at  Beaufort,  S.  C, 
in  August,  19 1 5.  He  was  advanced  to  Auburn,  Me., 
February,  19 18,  at  a  salary  of  $3600. 

E.  A.  Beck  was  city  manager  at  Edgeworth,  Pa.,  prior 
to  his  appointment  to  a  similar  position  at  Goldsboro, 
N.  C,  in  July,  1917;  salary  $3300. 

Kenyon  Riddle  served  as  city  manager  and  engineer 
at  Abilene,  Kansas,  for  five  years  prior  to  his  appoint- 


APPENDIX  347 

ment  as  manager  at  Xenia,  QJug,  January,  1918;  sal- 
ary $3cxx). 

I.  R.  Ellison,  manager  of  Grand  Haven,  Mich.,  served 
as  superintendent  at  Eaton  Rapids,  Mich.,  prior  to  his 
present  appointment.     His  salary  is  $2500. 

Hubert  A.  Stecker  was  promoted  to  the  management  of 
Charlottesville,  Va.,  salary  $2000,  from  a  similar  posi- 
tion at  Farmville,  Va.,  January,  1917. 

G.  A.  Abbott,  the  village  manager  of  Birmingham, 
Mich.,  salary  $2000,  held  a  similar  position  at  Grosse 
Pointe  Shores,  Mich.,  for  two  years  prior  to  his  promo- 
tion in  April,  19 18. 

Karl  M.  Mitchell  was  transferred  from  the  manage- 
ment of  River  Forest,  111.,  to  that  of  Sherman,  Texas,  in 
April,  191 5  ;  salary  $2400. 

Claude  E.  Chappell  was  promoted  from  Big  Rapids, 
Mich.,  to  Jackson,  Mich.,  in  January,  1915  ;  salary  $3500. 

These  last  two  have  since  left  the  profession. 

As  to  dismissals  and  resignations  it  is  difficult  to  tell 
just  where  one  leaves  off  and  the  other  begins,  as  fre- 
quently a  manager  resigns  in  preference  to  being  dis- 
missed. Again  in  some  cities  the  position  of  manager 
becomes  vacant  automatically  every  one  or  two  years,  the 
manager  being  appointed  for  a  definite  term.  In  such 
cases  failure  of  reappointment  is  practically  equivalent 
to  dismissal. 

Taking  the  list  of  cities  as  published  herewith,  my 
information  is  as  follows: 

Newburgh,  N,^.,  released  its  first  manager  after  some 
five  months'  tenure.  It  is  intimated  that  the  desire  to 
secure  a  local  man  was  back  of  the  reasons  assigned  for 
this  dismissal. 

Portsmouth,  Va.,  released  its  first  manager  after  a 
six  months*  trial.     Here,  too,  the  reasons  assigned  dif- 


348  APPENDIX 

fer  with  the  individual  making  explanation.  It  is 
charged  that  the  manager  failed  to  produce  results,  that 
he  was  not  a  mixer  and  that  he  did  not  cooperate  with 
his  council.  It  has  been  counter  charged  that  the  real 
fault  lay  with  the  commission.  Several  members  re- 
signed because  of  alleged  log-rolling  on  the  part  of  mem- 
bers of  the  commission. 

Beaufort,  S.  C.,  released  its  first  manager  after  a  three 
and  one-half  months'  term.  The  reason  assigned  was 
"friction"  between  the  manager  and  certain  members  of 
the  council. 

The  failure  of  Sandusky,  Ohio,  to  reappoint  its  sec- 
ond manager  last  January  is  credited  by  the  newspapers 
as  being  due  to  the  manager's  laxity  in  dealing  with  cer- 
tain local  vice  conditions. 

It  is  understood  that  Albion,  Mich.,  released  its  first 
manager  because  of  incompetence. 

Cadillac,  Mich.,  failed  to  reappoint  its  second  man- 
ager, and  the  general  feeling  seems  to  be  that  politics 
underlay  this  virtual  dismissal,  as  the  newly  elected 
mayor  had  served  as  mayor  under  the  old  form  and  be- 
lieved in  "standing  by  the  home  boys."  The  manager, 
released,  came  from  out  of  the  city,  although  four  years' 
service,  two  as  engineer  and  two  as  manager,  would 
seem  to  have  established  his  residence. 

The  recent  resignation  of  the  Grand  Rapids  manager 
amounts  to  a  dismissal  and  details  will  be  found  in  the 
June,  1918,  issue  of  the  Short  Ballot  Bulletin.  The  same 
is  true  of  the  resignation  at  Manistee,  Mich.,  reference 
to  which  will  be  found  in  the  same  article. 

Jackson,  Mich.,  released  its  first  manager  and  it  seems 
fair  to  conclude  that  he  was  not  qualified  to  hold  a  po- 
sition of  this  size  and  responsibility  as  he  lacked  organ- 
izing power  and  initiative. 


APPENDIX  349 

Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Mich.,  recently  requested  the  res- 
ignation of  its  manager  and  assigned  as  the  reason,  the 
elimination  of  the  expense  incurred  by  his  salary  and  the 
discontinuance  of  improvements  during  the  war. 

Some  nine  of  the  city  managers  have  entered  active 
war  service  arid  the  balance  of  the  eighty- three  cases  of 
managers  relinquishing  their  positions  are  largely  charge- 
able to  resignations  because  of  inadaptability  or  un- 
willingness to  longer  endure  the  hardships  of  the  posi- 
tion. 

Harrison  Gray  Otis, 
Secretary,  City  Managers'  Association. 


350 


APPENDIX 


TABLE  NO.  I 
Tbdd  Cnr  Manager  and  Local  Residencs 


City 

Popula- 
tion 

City  Manager 

Residence  of  Manager 
Time  of  Appointment 

Salary 

Sumter,  S.  C 

8,109 

3,706 

2,712 

116,577 

46,921 

11,134 

4,843 

9,957 

8,375 

12,381 

3,252 

5,314 

4,732 

1,324 

3,719 

4,519 

31,433 

12,412 

12,727 

2,486 

10,400 

27,805 

19,989 

18,266 

4,657 

30,445 

41,641 

12,706 

11,659 

10,321 

5,494 

1,903 

8,412 

5,208 

28,946 

26,730 

33,190 

5,833 

10,517 

4,778 

Vacant 

Hickory,  N.  C 

J.  W.  Ballew 

$1,000 
900 

Morganton,  N.  C 

C.  T.  Cain 

Dayton,  Ohio 

Springfield,  Ohio 

H.W.  Waite 

C.  E.  Ashbumer 

R.  A.  Craig 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Staunton,  Va 

12,500 
6,000 
5,000 
2,400 
2,400 
1.600 
2,000 
l,S0O 
2,600 
2,000 
1,500 

Phoenix,  Ariz 

Phoenix,  Ariz 

LaGrande,  Ore 

Fred  Curry 

LaGrande,  Cre 

Amarillo,  Texas 

Cadillac,  Mich 

Manistee,  Mich 

Springfield,  Ohio 

Temple,  Texas 

Amarillo,  Texas 

Cadillac,  Mich 

Manistee,  Mich 

Montrose,  Col 

Taylor,  Texas 

Denton  Texas.. 

M.  H.  Eardin 

T.V.Stephens 

Chas.  E.  Ruger 

J.  E.  McDaniel 

W.  E.  Dozier 

Sam  C.  Gary 

Collinsville,  Okla 

F.  A.  Wright 

Lakeland,  Fla 

Vacant 

Big  Rapids,  Mich 

W.  J.  Fairbum 

1,200 

Gaylord  C.  Cimamin. 
0.  J.  S.  Ellingson.... 
Wallace  M.Morgan.. 
H.G.Otis 

6,000 

Sherman,  Texas 

Bakersfield,  Cal 

Beaufort,  S.  C 

Sherman,  Texas 

Bakersfield,  Cal 

New  York  City 

Tyler  Texas. 

2,400 
3,000 
2,400 
3,000 
4,000 
3  600 

Tyler,  Texas 

Clay  Hight 

Newburgh,  N.Y 

Sandusky,  Ohio. 

Henry  Wilson 

K.  B  Ward .... 

Newburgh,  N.Y 

Columbus,  Ohio 

Ashtabula,  Ohio 

Ashtabula,  Ohio 

Yoakum,  Texas. 

J.  Warren  Prine 

W.  Lander .... 

2,500 

Niagara  Falls,  N.Y... 
Wheeling,  W.  Va 

Ossian  A.  Carr 

Cadillac,  Mich 

In  operation  1917 

Detroit,  Mich 

5,CO0 

Harrison  G.  Roby . . . 

2,500 

Santa  Barbara,  Cal . . . 

In  operation  1917 

E.  L.Wells,  Jr 

2,500 

St.  Augustine,  Fla... 

W.L.Miller 

Ray  S.  Blinn 

J.  C.  Commander .  . . 
H.  G.  Volhner 

Daj'ton,  Ohio 

3  600 

Westerville,  Ohio 

Elizabeth  City,  N.C.. 
Webster  City,  Iowa.  . 

Mt.  Vernon,  Ohio 

1,500 
1,800 

San  Jose,  Cal 

Thomas  H.  Reed.... 

Berkeley  Cal  ...   . 

6,000 

Watertown,  N.Y 

In  operation  Jan.  1  '18. 
Bayonne,  N.  J 

3,000 

Portsmouth,  Va 

Albion,  Mich 

T.B.Shertzer 

Brownsville,  Texas . . . 

Petoskey,  Mich 

Grand  Rapids,  Mich. . 

Frank  R.  WillianiR... 
W.R.  Caldwell 

Brownsville,  Texas.... 

Detroit,  Mich 

In  operation  July  1,  '18 

3,000 
2,000 

East  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

9,179 

TABLE  NO.  II 
Transfers  op  Citt  Managers 


Staunton,  Va $1,S 

Cadillac,  Mich 


.to Springfield,  Ohio. . . . 

.to Niagara  Falls,  N.Y... 


$6,000 
5,000 


REMOVALS 


Sumter,  S.  C W.  W.  Worthington 

Phoenix,  Ariz 

Newburgh,  N.  Y Fred.  C.  Alber 

Sherman,  Texas Karl  Mitchell 

Big  Rapids,  Mich 


Beaufort,  S.  C Home 

Albion,  Mich Roland  Remley 

Jackson,  Mich Claude  Chappel 

Hickory,  N.  C S.  C.  Cornwell 

Montrose,  Col P.  W.  Pinkerton. 


INDEX 


Administration,  of  cities.  See 
City  government ;  urban  wel- 
fare a  problem  of,  S. 

Administrative  experts,  con- 
trolling of,  44;  corruption 
among,  44;  demand  for,  62; 
direction  of  policy  by,  45; 
need  of,  40;  power  of,  43; 
superintendent  of  schools,  45. 

Akron,  university  of,  147; 
part-time  training  for  public 
service  in,  263. 

Aldridge,  Henry  R,,  on  city 
planning,  21 ;  on  town-plan- 
ning, 69. 

Allen,  Dr.  William  H.,  140. 

American  Association  of  ur- 
ban universities,  report  of, 
on  field  work  in  public  serv- 
ice, 261. 

Army,  training  for.  See  Mili- 
tary service. 

Army  training  schools,  252. 

Aschersleben,  training  of  low- 
er classes  of  public  employ- 
ees at,  2y6. 


Back-to-the-land  agitation,  i. 

Baker,  Newton  D.,  as  Mayor 
of  Cleveland,  17. 

Beard,  Prof.  Charles  A.,  on 
New  York  Training  School 
for  Public  Service,   137. 

Boards,  lay,  control  of  experts 
by,  340. 

Boards  and  commissions,  in- 
dependent, for  city  manage- 
ment, 80 ;  appointment  of,  80 ; 
functions  of,  81 ;  relation  of, 
to  permanent  service,  81 ;  re- 


lation   of    experts    to.     See 

under  City  experts. 
Boston   University   College   of 

Business  Administration,  263. 
Bruere,  Henry,  54, 
Buchtel  College,  147. 
Budget    making,    problems   of, 

339- 
Bureaucracy,    dangers     of,    to 

public  service,  337. 
Burgomeister,  German,  97. 
Business    administration,    field 

work  in,  263 ;  in  city  politics, 

269. 
Business  interests,  relation  of, 

to  community  welfare,  66. 
Business,    private,    lessons    ap- 
plied to  public  service,  270. 


California,  University  of,  mu- 
nicipal training  courses  at, 
115,  117,  118. 

Canada,  emigration  into,  of 
homesteaders,  2. 

Carmack,  Senator,  murder  of, 
60. 

Charleston,  S.  C,  municipal 
college  of,  145. 

Chicago,  University  of,  public 
service  training  in,  116,  124. 

Chicago  School  of  Civics  and 
Philanthropy,  133. 

Cincinnati,  University  of,  147; 
field  work  for  public  service 
in,  264,  265 ;  municipal  service 
training  at,  121. 

Cincinnati,  women's  city  club 
of,  64. 

Cities,  commerce  of,  and  trans- 
portation, 3;  flow  of  immi- 


35X 


352 


INDEX 


gration  into,  3;  German,  ef- 
ficiency of,  63;  improvement 
of.  See  Municipal  improve- 
ment ;  manufacturing  in,  5 ; 
population  of,  increase  in,  2. 

Citizens'  Agency,  control  of 
experts  by,  340. 

Citizens,  cooperation  of,  64; 
with  government  through 
community  center,  151. 

City,  call  of  the,  i ;  congestion 
of,  23. 

City  experts,  administrative, 
controlling  of,  zt4J  need  of, 
40;  power  of,  43. 

City  experts,  American  experi- 
ence in,  99;  political  interfer- 
ence with,  100;  selection  of 
professional  men  as,  99; 
technical  specialists  as,  99. 

City  experts,  classification  of, 
73;  control  of,  72;  corrup- 
tion among,  44;  demand  for, 
62;  direction  of  government 
policy  by,  45 ;  fear  of,  40 ;  in 
education,  82. 

City  experts,  in  foreign  coun- 
tries, 90;  functions  of,  93; 
in  British  council  form  of 
administration,  41,  93;  in 
England,  English  public  opin- 
ion of,  97;  in  England,  per- 
manency of,  98;  in  England, 
results  of,  ^;  in  German 
consolidat  form  of  govern- 
ment, 96;  training  of,  93. 

City  experts,  in  management 
by  independent  boards  and 
commissions,  80;  fire  and 
police  boards,  83;  health 
boards,  82;  influence  of,  in 
developing  expertness,  85 ; 
political  control  of,  83;  re- 
lation of,  to  administrators, 
84;  relation  of,  to  permanent 
service,  81 ;  salaries  of,  86. 

City  experts,  in  mayor  and 
council  form  of  administra- 
tion, ys ;  contributions  of 
some  progressive  men  as,  74; 
efficiency  exceptionally  found 


in,  77;  "indispensable"  men 
as,  77;  interference  with,  7S; 
permanency  lacking  in,  76, 
79;  professional  men  as,  78. 

City  experts,  need  of,  37; 
present  use  of,  71 ;  problem 
of,  71 ;  superintendents  of 
schools  as,  45. 

"City  fathers,"  Mr.  Eshleman 
on,  40. 

City  government,  a  "business," 
34 ;  adequate  compensation 
for  service  in,  51;  by  law  or^ 
public  sentiment,  57 ;  by  mak- 
ing laws,  62;  by  public  senti- 
ment, 63;  career  in  service 
of,  obstacles  to,  50;  citizen 
cooperation  with,  through 
community  center,  151 ;  civic 
education  in,  68;  commission 
form  of,  growth  of,  57;  com- 
munity cooperation  in,  64; 
congestion  of  population  and, 
23;  "conscious  purposes"  of, 
24;  "economy"  and,  34;  edu- 
cation of  people  in,  64;  in- 
adequacy of,  23,  33;  indivi- 
dual   responsibility   in,   63. 

City  government,  men  leaving 
service  of,  48,  49 ;  conclusions 
on,  55,  56;  loss  from,  49,  50. 

City  government,  on  party 
lines,  60;  opportunity  for  ex- 
perts in,  32;  political  cam- 
paigns and,  67;  public  inter- 
est vs.  private  interests  in, 
23;  public  sentiment  in,  66; 
publicity  in,  64,  66;  results 
of,  36 ;  results  in,  responsibil- 
ity for,  60 ;  saving  by  training 
in  public  service  for  use  in,  48. 

City  government,  selfish  vs.  un- 
selfish motives  in,  27;  of 
contractors,  30;  of  individ- 
uals, 29;  of  parties,  27;  of 
public  utilities,  31. 

City  life,  advantages  of,  33; 
disadvantages  of,  32. 

Gity  manager  idea  and  adminis- 

'    tration  board  system,  89. 

City  manager  system  at  Day- 


INDEX 


353 


ton,  0.,  57;  at  Galveston, 
Texas,  61 ;  at  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  59;  at  Salem,  Mass., 
61;  growth  of,  57,  61;  on 
professional  basis,  62;  suc- 
cess of,  57;  value  of,  58. 

City  managers,  in  United 
States,  data  regarding,  345; 
university  training  for,  294. 

City  office,  as  clinic,  273 ;  train- 
ing center  for  public  service, 
269,  277;  training  center  for 
teachers  of  political  science, 
272,  277. 

City  officials,  professional  or- 
ganizations of,  323 ;  annual 
meetings  and  conventions  of, 
327;  as  continuation  schools, 
331 ;  aims  of,  331 ;  educational 
influence  of,  on  legislature, 
332;  extent  and  character  of, 
325 ;  information  service  of, 
330;  membership  of,  323; 
need  of,  323 ;  organization 
of,  325;  publications  of,  328; 
summary  of,  331. 

City  planning,  21,  68. 

City  politics,  selfishness  in,  26; 
warning  against,  26. 

City  welfare,  a  problem  of  ad- 
ministration, 5 ;  relation  of 
business  interests  to,  66.  See 
also  Public  welfare. 

Civic   education,  68. 

Civic  spirit,  25. 

Civil  engineer,  assistant,  civil 
service  requirements  for, 
336. 

Civil  service  laws,  results  of, 
63;  requirements  for  assist- 
ant civil  engineer,  336. 

Cleveland,  O.,  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, 84 ;  police  activities  in 
public  welfare  in,  17. 

College,  new  relation  of,  to 
community,  141. 

College  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  146;  field  work  for 
public  service  in,  264;  public 
service  courses  in,  128. 

Columbia  University,  municipal 


administration  courses  in, 
127;  school  of  philanthropy, 
133. 

Commerce,  growth  of,  and 
transportation,  3. 

Commission  form  of  govern- 
ment, 86.  See  also  City  man- 
ager system  and  Commission- 
manager  form  of  govern- 
ment. 

Commission-manager  form  of 
government,  86,  87 ;  ability  of 
personnel  of,  88;  appoint- 
ment of  personnel  of,  91 
note;  contribution  of,  to  ex- 
pertness,  87;  control  of,  91 
note ;  growth  of,  87 ;  person-  .^ 
nel  of,  88;  public  service  of, 
91  note;  results  of,  89;  term 
of,  92  note;  training  of  per- 
sonnel of,  90  note. 

Commission-manager  idea  vs. 
commission-manager  form  of 
government,  87 ;  editorial 
note  on,  87,  89-92. 

Community  center,  citizen  co- 
operation with  government 
through,  151. 

Community  center,  fitting  citi- 
zens for  expert  government 
through,  161 ;  by  bridging 
chasm  between  expert  and 
popular  states  of  mind,  163; 
by  correlation  with  govern- 
mental administrations,  164; 
by  decentralization  of  cer- 
tain services,  166;  by  transfer 
of  emphasis  from  things  to 
men,  165. 

Community  center  movement, 
extent  of,  161. 

Community  Center,  Wingate, 
152;  a  continuation  school 
for  training  for  public  serv- 
ice, 160;  a  means  of  binding 
government  and  people  to- 
gether, 159;  cost  of,  160;  or- 
ganization of,  153;  special 
enterprises  of,  154. 

Community  center  workers, 
schools  for,  134. 


354 


INDEX 


Community  cooperation  in  city 
government,  64. 

Community  organizations,  d^. 

Community  welfare,  relation 
of  business  interests  to,  66. 

Congestion  of  population  in 
cities,  iz. 

Control  of  experts.  See  under 
Experts. 

Cooke,  Morris  L.,  7;  on  con- 
structive municipal  publicity, 
7;  "plain  talk"  publicity  of, 
for  Philadelphia,   176. 

Cooperation,  in  municipal  serv- 
ice, 306;  of  citizens,  64;  of 
citizens  with  government 
through  community  center, 
151 ;  of  industry  and  govern- 
ment, 306;  of  officials,  65. 

Corporation  counsels,  78. 

Cortelyou,  George  B.,  career 
of,  52. 

Country  districts,  foreign-born 
population  in,  3. 

Country  homes,  individual  self- 
help  in,  5. 

Country-life  movement,  i. 

County  organizations  of  city 
officials,  326. 

Criminal,  early  reformation  of, 
19. 


Dayton,  O.,  Bureau  of  Munic- 
ipal Research,  on  municipal 
publicity,  8;  city  manager 
form  of  government  at,  suc- 
cess of,  57;  expert  govern- 
ment of  parks  in,  11;  play- 
grounds in,  9;  probation  sys- 
tem of  18;  public  welfare 
in,  8;  publicity  for,  174;  re- 
lation of  business  interests 
to  success  in  government  of, 
66. 

Democracy,  dangers  of  expert 
to,  337;  expert  service  and, 
339;  expert  service  and,  sys- 
tem for  reconciliation  of, 
343;  modern,  dangers  of 
bureaucracy  to,  337;  modern, 


»eeds  of,  335 ;  rise  of,  in  the 
United  States,  334. 

Democratization  in  training  in 
public  service,  320. 

De  Tocqueville  100  years  later, 
Z7- 

Diplomatic  training  courses  in 
universities,  122. 

District  organizations  of  city 
officials,  326. 

Dusseldorf,  Academy  of  Mu- 
nicipal Research  of,  training 
of  municipal  employees  at, 
274. 

"Economjr"  and  city  govern- 
ment, 34. 

Education,  public,  46;  adminis- 
trative and  supervising  of- 
ficers a  selected  body  in,  239 ; 
essentials  for  training  for, 
2Z7\  evolution  of,  123;  ex- 
perts in,  82;  scope  of  activ- 
ities of,  284;  skill  in  appli- 
cation of  knowledge  for,  240 ; 
social  significance  of  the 
work  in,  243 ;  summary  of, 
245;  teachers  a  selected  body 
in,  238;  training  of  teachers 
for,  235;  types  of  training 
schools  and  classes  for,  236. 

Educational  administration, 
university  training   for,  291. 

Educational  work  in  training 
while  in  public  service,  316; 
attitude  of  educational  agen- 
cies in,  317;  attitude  of  em- 
ployees toward,  316. 

Electric  light  rates,  231. 

Electric  lighting  franchise 
grants,  222. 

Employees  in  municipal  serv- 
ice, selection  of,  according  to 
training  in  public  service, 
311;  training  of,  in  public 
service.  See  Public  service; 
welfare  of,  314. 

Engineering,  municipal,  scope 
of  activities  of,  284;  univer- 
sity training  fot,  292;  part- 
time  training  for,  26(S. 


INDEX 


355 


Engineering  specialists,  78. 

England,  civic  university  move- 
ment in,   144. 

England,  experts  in  council 
form  of  administration  in, 
41,  93,  102;  English  public 
opinion  on,  97;  permanency 
of,  98. 

England,  filling  of  expert  pub- 
lic office  in,  189;  municipal 
administration  plan  in,  93 ; 
public  office  the  training  for 
public  servants  in,  2']2. 

Eshleman,  Mr.,  on  "city 
fathers,"  40. 

Ethics  of  public  office,  278. 

Expert,  definition  of,  39. 

Expert  administration  and  de- 
mocracy, system  for  recon- 
ciliation of,  343. 

Expert    bureaucracy,    dangers 

of,  zyj. 

Expert  government,  fitting  citi- 
zens for,  through  community 
center,  161.  See  also  under 
Community  center. 

Expert  government,  interpret- 
ing of,  168;  antagonism  in, 
168 ;  citizens'  understanding 
necessary  in,  180;  inexpert 
publicity  in,  178;  "plain  talk" 
publicity  in,  176;  public  mis- 
information and,  169,  170; 
publicity  for,  168;  publicity 
must  be  full  information  iiij 
175;  publicity  regarding,  ne- 
cessary, 172;  simplicity  in 
publicity  reports  in,  179; 
value    of    publicity    in,    171, 

173. 
Expert  service  and  democracy, 

339. 
Experts,  in  mdustrial  life, 
38;  in  public  and  private  af- 
fairs, 39;  need  of,  for  public 
service,  335;  need  of,  in  city 
government,  37;  needed  for 
drawing  up  franchises,  224; 
needed  for  municipal  control 
of  public  utilities,  227 ;  needed 
for    municipal    operation   of 


public  utilities,  228,  229,  231, 
232,  233;  needed  for  munici- 
pal regulation  of  privately 
owned  public  utilities,  225; 
President  Wilson  on,  338; 
value  of,  338,  339. 

Experts,  city,  administrative, 
controlling  of,  44 ;  corruption 
among,  44;  demand  for,  62; 
direction  of  policy  by,  45; 
need  of,  40;  power  of,  43; 
present  use  of,  71 ;  problem 
of,  71 ;  superintendent  of 
schools  as,  45. 

Experts,  city,  (American  ex- 
perience in,  99,  103;  political 
interference  with,  100;  selec- 
tion of  professional  men  as, 
99;  technical  specialists  as, 
99. 

Experts,  city,  classification  of, 
73;  control  of,  72,  102; 
by  citizens'  agency,  340 ;  by 
lay  boards,  340;  by  popular 
intelligence,  339;  by  public 
hearings,  341 ;  by  union  of 
power  and  responsibility, 
342. 

Experts,  city,  fear  of,  40;  fu- 
ture of,  in  United  States, 
103. 

Experts,  city,  in  foreign  coun- 
tries, 90,  102;  functions  of, 
93 ;  in  British  council  form 
of  administration,  93,  102;  in 
England,  permanency  of,  98; 
in  England,  English  public 
opinion  on,  97;  in  England, 
results  of,  ^;  in  German 
consolidat  form  of  adminis- 
tration, 96,  102;  training  of, 

93. 
Experts,  city,  in  management 
by  independent  boards  and 
commissions,  80;  fire  and 
police  boards,  83 ;  health 
boards,  82;  in  education,  82; 
influence  of,  in  developing 
expertness,  85;  political  con- 
trol of,  83;  relation  of,  to 
administrators,    84;    relation 


356 


INDEX 


of,  to  permanent  service,  8i ; 
salaries  of,  86. 
Experts,  city,  in  mayor  and 
council  form  of  administra- 
tion, 73;  contributions  of 
some  progressive  men,  74; 
efficiency  exceptionally  found 
in,  T]\  "indispensable"  men 
as,  "JT^  interference^  with, 
78;  permanency  lacking  in, 
76,  79;  professional  men  as, 

Experts,  city,  local  residence 
requirement  for  office  of, 
183;  obstacle  to  efficient  de- 
mocracy, 187;  results  of: 
continuation  of  party  spoils, 
185;  inadequate  training  for 
experts,  186;  insufficient  na- 
tional supply  of  experts,  187; 
mediocre  technical  and  ex- 
pert service,  183 ;  mobiliza- 
tion of,  through  staff  organ- 
ization, lOI. 

Farm     districts,     foreign-born 

population  of,  3. 
Farm-lands,  public,  settling  of, 

2. 
Farm-life,    early,    industry   of, 

4;  individual  self-help,  5. 
Farmers,  immigrants  as,  3. 
Field  work  in   public   service, 

meaning  and  scope  of,  261. 
Finance,    municipal,    scope    of 

activities  of,  284;  university 

training  for,  291. 
Fireboards,   experts  in,  83. 
Fitzpatrick,    Dr.    Edward    A., 

260,  261. 
Ford,  Dr.  C  E.,  54. 
Foreign-born  population  in  ci- 
ties, 3. 
Forests,  conservation  of,  304. 
Frankfort,  University  of,  145. 

Galveston,  Texas,  commission 
form  of  government  at,  suc- 
cess of,  61. 

Gas  rates,  231. 


German    cities,    efficiency    of, 
^^3.  .  .  .        ' 

German     civic     university     at 

Frankfort,  145. 
German  consolidat  form  of 
government,  experts  in,  96, 
103. 
Germany,  filling  of  expert  pub- 
lic office  in,  188;  municipal 
administration  plan  in,  96; 
training  of  municipal  em- 
ployees at,  276. 
Government,  cooperation  of  in- 
dustry and,  306;  expert,  fit- 
ting citizens  for,  through 
community  center,  161.  (^Sce 
also  under  Community  cen- 
ter) ;  representative,  re- 
sponsible   government,    343. 

Harvard  University  School  for 

Health  Officers,  130;  sanitary 

survey  by,  263. 
Health,     public.     See     Public 

health. 
Health  boards,  experts  in,  82. 
Health    commissioners,    78. 
Health     officers,     schools     for 

training  of,  130. 
Household      economies,      field 

work  in,  265. 
Hughes,  Charles  Evans,  74. 
Hunter     College,     New    York 

City,  147. 
Hygiene,  social,  20. 

Immigrants  as  farmers,  3. 
Immigration  and  urbanization, 

3. 

Independent  boards  and  com- 
missions. See  Boards  and 
Commissions,  independent. 

Indiana,  University  of,  field 
work  for  public  service  in, 
264. 

"Indispensable"  men  in  munici- 
pal administration,  77. 

Industrial  life,  use  of  experts 
in,  38. 

Industry,  cooperation  of  gov- 
ernment and,  306;  in  cities. 


INDEX 


357 


5;    in    early     farm-life,    4; 

urbanization  and,  4. 
International   organizations   of 

city  officials,  325. 
Interstate  organizations  of  city 

officials,  326. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  founder  of 
Democracy,  334;  on  duties  of 
public  officers,  334. 

Jacobs,  J.  L.,  55. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  on  public 
office-holders,  48. 

Johns  Hopkins  University,  in- 
stitute of  hygiene  and  public 
health  being  organized  at, 
131. 

Keyes,  Dr.  Edward  L.,  Jr.,  on 
social  hygiene,  20. 

King,  Dr.  Clyde  Lyndon,  16. 

Kolbe,  President,  of  University 
of  Akron,  on  municipal  uni- 
versities, 143. 

Laws,  making  of,  results  of, 
62;  making  of,  statistics  of, 
62;  vs.  public  sentiment  in 
city  government,  62. 

Legal  aid,  field  work  in,  264. 

Legal  department  of  city,  scope 
of  activities  of,  283. 

Legal  positions,  municipal,  uni- 
versity training  for,  288. 

Legislature,  educational  influ- 
ence of  administrative  organ- 
izations on,  332. 

Library  work,  part-time  train- 
ing in,  266. 

Local  organizations  of  city  of- 
ficials, 326. 

Local  residence  requirement 
for  office  of  public  expert. 
See  Expert,  city. 

Louisville,  Ky.,  University  of, 
14s. 

Lowell,  President,  of  Harvard, 
62. 

McFarland,  J.  Horace,  7. 
Manufacturing,  in  cities,  5. 


Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology,  engineering  ad- 
ministration courses  in,  128; 
school  for  training  public 
health  officers  in,  130. 

Mayor  and  council  form  in  city 
administration,  efficiency  ex- 
ceptionally found  in,  77;  con- 
tributions of  some  progres- 
sive men  in,  74;  experts  of, 
72 ;  "indispensable"  men  in, 
77;  interference  with  experts 
in,  78;  permanency  lacking 
in,  76,  79;  professional  men 
in,  78. 

Michigan,  University  of,  mu- 
nicipal administration  train- 
ing in,  125. 

Military  training,  for  U.  S. 
Army,  274;  comparison  be- 
tween European  and,  252, 
253;  comparison  of,  with 
training  for  civil  service,  256; 
continuous,  for  men  in  serv- 
ice, 251 ;  developing  experi- 
mental research  in,  255;  de- 
veloping the  "reserve  of  abil- 
ity" in,  252 ;  educational  sys- 
tem of,  248;  practical  train- 
ing and  theoretical  instruc- 
tion in,  250;  promotion  fol- 
lowing, 255 ;  summary  of, 
256;  training  in  adminis- 
tration and  technique  in» 
254. 

Milwaukee  common  council, 
79;  fire  and  police  commis- 
sion, 83,  85. 

Minnesota,  University  of,  field 
work  for  public  service  in, 
264 ;  municipal  training 
courses  at,  115,  117. 

Mitchel,  John,  on  value  of  con- 
sultation, 65. 

Municipal   activities,   8,   9,    12, 

Municipal  administration,  in- 
adequacy of,  33;  urban  wel- 
fare a  problem  of,  5. 

Municipal  administrators.  See 
City  officials. 


358 


INDEX 


Municipal  employees  in  Ger- 
many, training  of,  274,  276. 

Municipal  experts.  See  Experts, 
city. 

Municipal  government  {^See 
City  government)  ;  manage- 
ment of,  by  independent 
boards  and  commissions,  ex- 
perts in,  80. 

Municipal  improvement,  7;  city 
planning,  21 ;  municipal  pub- 
licity constructive,  7;  mu- 
nicipal service  in,  12;  hy- 
gienic welfare,  17;  parole 
system  for  prisoners,  19; 
police  used  in  social  welfare 
work,  17;  probation  system 
for  prisoners,  18 ;  public  safe- 
ty activities,  16;  public  wel- 
fare, 8,  9,  11;  social  hygiene, 
20;  taxes  and,  12;  welfare 
of   public   employees,    15. 

Municipal  life,  obligation  of, 
22. 

Municipal  publicity,  construc- 
tive, 7. 

Municipal  reform,  old  and  new 
conception  of,  65. 

Municipal  research,  bureau  of, 
66._ 

Municipal  service,  organization 
of,  297-301 ;  taxes  and,  12 ; 
training  for,  compared  with 
training  for  Army,  247  et 
seq.,  256. 

Municipal  service,  training  for 
public  service  in,  267,  302; 
advancements  in,  314;  as 
conservation,  303 ;  central 
employment  office  and,  312; 
consideration  of  employee 
himself  in,  310;  democratiza- 
tion in,  320 ;  educational  work 
in,  316;  for  future  efficiency, 
304;  in  cooperation,  306;  se- 
lection of  employees  accord- 
ing to,  311;  personal  respon- 
sibility and,  321,  322;  pub- 
licity through  "talking"  of 
employees  for  press  in,  321 ; 
training    for    all    employees. 


309;  yearly  report  of  fore- 
men on  employees  in,  313; 
welfare    of    employees    and. 

Municipal  universities,  in  Eu- 
rope, 144;,  in  United  States, 
145;  relation  of,  to  expert 
city  government,  148. 

Municipal  university  movement 
and  public  service  training, 
141.. 

Municipal  welfare.  See  Pub- 
lic welfare. 

Nashville,  Tenn.,  city  manager 
system  at,  59. 

National  conference  on  uni- 
versities and  public  service, 
261. 

National  Municipal  League, 
Committee  on  Constructive 
Municipal  Publicity  of,  7; 
Committee  on  the  Relation 
of  the  City  to  Its  Food  Sup- 
ply, 16. 

National  Municipal  Review, 
article  on  "American  Con- 
ceptions of  Municipal  Gov- 
ernment," IS-.      . 

National  organizations  of  city 
officials,  325,  326. 

Nebraska,  University  of,  field 
work  for  public  service  in, 
264 ;  municipal  training 
courses  at,  117. 

New  York,  College  of  the  City 
of,  146 ;  field  work  for  public 
service  in,  264;  public  service 
courses  in,  128. 

New  York  Central  land  grab, 
169,  170. 

New  York  Constitution  of 
1915,  defeat  of,  67. 

New  York  School  of  Philan- 
thropy, 132. 

New  York  Training  School 
for  Community  Center 
Workers,   134. 

New  York  Training  School  for 
Public  Service,  136;  scope  of 
work  of,  137. 


INDEX 


359 


New  York  City,  Bureau  of 
Municipal  Research  of,  on 
expert  government,  i68,  169; 
center  for  field  work  in  pub- 
lic service,  262;  expert  gov- 
ernment of,  accomplishments 
of,  171 ;  Institute  for  Public 
Service  of,  140;  New  York 
Central  grab  in,  169,  170; 
police  activities  in  public 
welfare  in,  17;  welfare  of 
public  employees  in,  15. 

New  York  University,  public 
service  courses  in,  116,  128. 

Normal  school  training  for 
teachers,  274. 

Northime,  Frank  E.,  55. 

Officials,  public,  cooperation  of, 
65;  organizations  of,  65. 
See  also  City  officials. 

Panama  Canal,  a  tribute  to 
ability  of  Army,  247. 

Parks  in  Dayton,  O.,  11. 

Parole  and  reformatory  work, 
17;  of  Philadelphia,  19. 

Partisan  employees,  267,  269. 

Party  assessments,  "voluntary," 
268. 

Party  spoils,   185. 

Pennsylvania,  University  of, 
and  public  service,  128, 

Pensions  for  retired  public  em- 
ployees, 216. 

Philadelphia,  parole  system  of, 
19;  Bureau  of  Municipal  Re- 
search, 12;  contructive  mu- 
nicipal publicity  in,  7,  8;  mu- 
nicipal service  in,  12;  "plain 
talk"  publicity  of  director  of 
public  works  at,  176;  public 
service  salaries  in,  52. 

Pittsburgh,  University  of,  147. 

Playgrounds,  in  Daj^ton,  O.,  9. 

Police  boards,  experts  in,  83. 

Political  campaigns  now  inci- 
dental, 67. 

Political  service,  city  office  a 
training  center  for,  :^7. 

Political  science,  city  office  as 


training  center  for  teachers 
of,  273,  277;  field  work  in, 
264. 

Politics,  selfishness  in,  26; 
warning  against,  26. 

Popular  intelligence,  control  of 
experts  by,  339. 

Private  business  lessons  applied 
to  public  service,  270. 

Probation  system  in  Dayton, 
O.,  18. 

Professional  education.  See 
under  University  training. 

Professional  men  in  municipal 
administration,  78. 

Public  education.  See  Educa- 
tion, public. 

Public  employees,  welfare  of, 
IS. 

Public  farm-lands,  settling  of, 
2. 

Public  Health,  Doctor  of,  de- 
gree,   132. 

Public  health  administration, 
field  work  in,  263 ;  scope  of 
activities  of,  284. 

Public  health  service,  university 
training  for,  290. 

Public  hearings,  value  of,  341. 

Public  interest  vs.  private  in- 
terests, 25. 

Public  office  of  expert,  local 
residence  requirement  for, 
183;  obstacle  to  efficient  de- 
mocracy, 187;  results  of: 
continuation  of  party  spoils, 
185;  inadequate  training  for 
experts,  186;  insufficient  na- 
tional supply  of  experts,  187 ; 
mediocre  technical  and  ex- 
pert service,  183. 

Public  safety  administrations, 
university  training  for,  293; 
scope  of  activities  of,  284, 
285. 

Public  sentiment  and  city  gov- 
ernment, 66 ;  and  law,  59 ;  vs. 
laws  in  city  government,  63. 

Public  service,  attracting  to, 
203;  compensation  in,  ade- 
quate and  fair,  207;  compen- 


36o 


INDEX 


sation  standardized  in,  209 ; 
disability  and  retirement  al- 
lowances in,  215;  employ- 
ments standardized  in,  212; 
fundamental  considerations 
in,  203;  greater  security  of 
tenure  necessary  in,  204; 
highest  ideals  offered  in,  204 ; 
opportunities  for  promo- 
tion in,  210,  212;  political 
abuses  must  be  removed, 
219;  popular  appreciation  of, 
as  life  career,  217;  promo- 
tion by  civil  service  exami- 
nation in,  21 1 ;  summary  of, 
220;  trial  boards  for  accused 
employees  in,  206;  welfare 
work  for  employees  in,  213. 

Public  service,  career  in,  ob- 
stacles to,  50;  civil  service 
rules  in,  205. 

Public  service,  classes  of  city 
employees  in:  partisan,  267, 
269;^  "reformers,"  268; 
"business"  administration, 
269. 

Public  service,  compensation 
for,  adequate,  51 ;  dangers 
of  bureaucracy  to,  337;  ex- 
perts for,  need  of,  335. 

Public  service,  filling  of  vacan- 
cies in,  recruiting  for,  191 ;  in 
England,  189;  in  Germany, 
188;  in  United  States,  190; 
investigation  of  experience 
and  character  in,  194;  new 
demands  in,  191 ;  out-of- 
date  methods  in,  201 ;  "prac- 
tical test"  in,  192;  recent 
improvements  in,  191 ;  spe- 
cial oral  examining  boards 
in,  195;  standardization  in, 
199 ;  unassembled  examina- 
tions in,  197. 

Public  service,  illustrations  of 
successful  careers  in,  53. 

Public  service,  men  leaving, 
48;  conclusions  on,  55,  56; 
loss  from,  49,  50;  statistics 
of,  49. 

Public    service,    national    con- 


ference on  universities  and, 
261;  on  party  lines,  60;  re- 
sults in,  responsibility  for, 
60;  saving  of  training  in  gov- 
ernment for  use  in,  48;  So- 
ciety for  the  Promotion  of 
Training  for,  261. 

Public  service,  training  for, 
257;  business  lessons  applied 
to,  270;  agencies  for,  105; 
city  office  a  training  centei 
for,  267;  city  office  as  train- 
ing center  for  teachers  of, 
273,  277;  continuous  training 
in,  271 ;  coordination  of  prac- 
tical training  with,  121;  cost 
of  training  employees  for, 
270,  271;  "doing"  as  the  ac- 
tual test  in,  280;  field  work 
in,  application  of  principles 
of,  26s ;  field  work  in,  mean- 
ing and  scope  of,  261 ;  for 
men  engaged  in  public  work, 
115;  for  un,dergraduateSj 
1 15- 1 18. 

Public  service,  training  for,  in 
universities  and  colleges,  105, 
121,  122,  123,  124;  amount  of 
instruction  in,  107;  in  tech- 
nical  colleges,  109;  methodt 
of  instruction  too  academic 
in,  112;  neglect  of  adminis* 
trative  methods  in,  iii ;  pref- 
erence for  abstract  prin- 
ciples of  government  in, 
112;  suggestions  for  im- 
provement in,  113. 

Public  service,  training  for, 
movement  for  practical,  260; 
municipal  university  move- 
ment and,  141,  144,  145,  148; 
need  of  training  schools  for, 
119;  of  lower  employees  at 
Aschersleben,  274;  of  muni- 
cipal officials  at  Diisseldorf, 
274;  part-time,  257-259,  274; 
part-time,  for  teachers,  274; 
part-time,  in  universities, 
259;  practical,  during  course, 
257 ;  public  responsibility  and 
ethics   in,   278;    schools   for. 


INDEX 


361 


136;  schools  for  community 
center  workers  in,  134; 
schools  for  health  officers  in, 
130;  schools  for  social  work- 
ers in,  132;  theoretical  in- 
struction in,  105;  training 
teachers  as  example  of,  235 ; 
trend  of,  toward  effective 
theoretical   instruction,    105. 

Public  service,  training  for, 
while  in  municipal  service, 
302;  advancement  in,  314;  as 
conservation,  303 ;  central 
employment  office  in,  312; 
consideration  of  employee 
himself  in,  310;  democratiza- 
tion in,  320;  educational 
work  in,  316;  for  all  em- 
ployees, 309;  for  future  effi- 
ciency, 304;  in  cooperation, 
306 ;  personal  responsibility 
and,  321,  322;  publicity 
through  "talking"  of  em- 
ployees for  press  in,  321 ; 
training  school  for  better 
private  positions,  55,  56;  se- 
lection of  employees  accord- 
ing to,  311;  welfare  of  em- 
ployees and,  314;  yearly  re- 
port foremen  on  employees 
in,  313. 

Public  utilities,  221. 

Public  utilities,  municipal  oper- 
ation of,  228;  experts  needed 
for,  228,  229,  231,  232,  233; 
problem  of  rates  in,  231 ; 
problems  arising  from,  232; 
profits  vs.  service  in,  229. 

Public  utilities,  privately 
.  owned,  221 ;  experts  needed 
in  framing  franchises  for, 
224;  municipal  control  of, 
experts  needed  for,  227 ;  mu- 
nicipal regulation  of,  experts 
needed  for,  225;  securing 
franchises  for,  222-224.  Pub- 
lic welfare,  community  bet- 
terment and,  8;  in  cities,  a 
problem  of  administration, 
5;  in  cities,  scope  of  activ- 
ities of,  284,  285 ;  in  Dayton, 


O.,  8;  public  safety  and,  16; 
taxes  and,  12. 

Publicity  in  interpreting  expert 
government,  168;  antagonism 
to,  168;  citizens'  understand- 
ing of,  180;  inexpert,  178; 
must  be  full  information, 
175;  "plain  talk,"  176;  pub- 
lic misinformation  and,  169, 
170;  simplicity  in  reports  of, 
179;  value  of,  171,  172,  173. 

Publicity,  municipal,  64,  66; 
constructive,  7 ;  through 
"talking"  of  employees  for 
press  in  public  service,  321. 

Recreation  activities  in  Day- 
ton, O.,  8. 

Reform  system,  municipal,  old 
and  new  conception  of,  65. 

"Reformers,"  268. 

Responsibility,  personal,  in 
public  service,  63,  278,  321, 
322. 

Retirement  pensions,  216. 

Riverside  grab  by  New  York 
Central,  New  York  City,  169, 
170. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  74, 

Root,  Elihu,  on  making  of 
laws,  62. 

Rural  welfare,  5.  See  also  un- 
der Country. 

Safety,  public,  and  public  wel- 
fare, 16;  scope  of  activities 
of,   284,   285. 

Salem,  Mass.,  commission  gov- 
ernment at,  61. 

School  teachers,  length  of 
service  of,  49. 

Schurz,  Carl,  on  making  and 
executing  of  laws,  63. 

"Shop-opinion"  in  municipal 
service,  314. 

Signor,  George  C,  54. 

Social  hygiene,  20. 

Social  sciences,  field  work  in, 
265. 

Society  for  the  Promotion  of 


Z^2 


INDEX 


Training  for  Public  Service, 

261. 
Spaulding,     Supt.     F.     E.,    of 

Cleveland,  O.,  179. 
St.    Louis    School    of    Social 

Economy,  133. 
State  organizations  of  city  of- 
ficials, 326. 
Stokes,     Harry,     assassination 

of,  59. 
Street  car  rates,  232. 
Superintendent   of    schools   an 

administrative  expert,  45. 

Taxes  and  service,  12. 

Teachers,  evolution  of  training 
for,  ^  123;  normal  school 
training  for,  274;  of  political 
science,  city  office  as  training 
center  for,  273;  of  political 
science  part-time  training 
for,  274 ;  training  of,  235.  See 
also  under  Education,  pub- 
lic. 

Texas,  University  of,  municipal 
administration  training  in, 
125. 

Toledo,  University  of,  147, 
148. 

Town  planning,  69. 

Training  for  public  service  in 
universities  and  colleges. 
See  Public  service  training. 

Transportation  and  urbaniza- 
tion, 3. 

Union  College,  sanitary  en- 
gineering courses  in,  130. 

Universities,  municipal,  and 
public  service  training,  141 ; 
in  Europe,  144;  in  United 
States,.  145;  relation  of,  to 
expert  city  government,  148. 

Universities,  new  relation  of, 
to  community,  143. 

Universities  and  colleges,  pub- 
lic service  training  in,  105, 
123,  124;  amount  of  instruc- 
tion in,  107;  in  technical 
schools,  109;  methods  of  in- 
struction   too    academic    in. 


112;  neglect  of  administra- 
tive methods  in,  1 1 1 ;  part- 
time,  259;  preference  for  ab- 
stract principles  of  govern- 
ment in,  112;  suggestions  for 
improvement   in,    113. 

University  and  Public  Service, 
Conference  of,   143. 

University  training  for  higher 
municipal  offices,  281 ;  fields 
of  municipal  administration 
to  be  studied,  283;  for  city 
managers,  294;  for  educa- 
tional administration,  291 ; 
for  legal  positions,  288;  for 
municipal  engineering,  292 ; 
f«r  municipal  finance,  291 ; 
for  public  health  service,  290; 
for  public  safety  administra- 
tion, 293 ;  liberal  elements 
part  of  training  in,  285 ;  so- 
cial science  training  neces- 
sary for,  282;  special  pro- 
gram necessary  for,  282. 

Urban  life,  advantages  of,  33; 
disadvantages  of,  32. 

Urban  welfare,  a  problem  of 
administration.  See  also 
Public  welfare. 

Urbanization,  immigration  and, 
3;  industry  and,  4;  rapid,  in 
United  States,  2;  transporta- 
tion and,  3. 

Utilities,  public.  See  Public 
utilities. 

Vanderlip,  President,  of  Na- 
tional City  bank,  career  of, 

53.  ... 

Vocational  trammg,  46. 
i 

Waite,  city  manager,  of  Day- 
ton, o.,  55. 

Washington,  D.  C,  welfare 
work  for  public  employees 
in,  213,  214. 

Washington  University,  St. 
Louis  School  of  Economy  of, 

133. 
Water  rates,  231. 


INDEX 


363 


Water  works,  public  and  pri- 
vate ownership  of,  222. 

Welfare  of  employees  in  pub- 
lic service,  213,  314;  public, 
scope  of  activities  of,  284, 
285.  See  also  Public  wel- 
fare. 

W^st  Point,  appointment  upon 
graduation  from,  255;  prac- 
tical and  theoretical  instruc- 
tion at,  250. 

Western  Reserve  University, 
municipal  administration 

training  in,  126. 

Westward  flow  of  settlers,  2. 

Wilson,  President,  on  experts, 
338. 

Wingate  community  center, 
New  York  City,  152;  a  con- 


tinuation school  for  training 
for  public  service,  160;  a 
means  of  binding  govern- 
ment and  people  together, 
159 ;  Community  Clearing 
House,  156,  157;  community 
labor  center,  154;  community 
night  school  of,  154;  cost  of, 
160;  organization  of,  153; 
social  clinic  for  unadjusted 
children,  155;  special  enter- 
prises of,  154, 
Wisconsin,  University  of,  mu- 
nicipal   training    courses    at, 

117. 

Women's  city  club  of  Cincin- 
nati, 64. 

Woods,  Police  Commissioner, 
New  York  City,  83. 


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